Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof

ABSTRACT

When an oxide semiconductor film is microfabricated, with the use of a hard mask, unevenness of a side surface of the oxide semiconductor film can be suppressed. Specifically, a semiconductor device comprises an oxide semiconductor film over an insulating surface; a first hard mask and a second hard mask over the oxide semiconductor film; a source electrode over the oxide semiconductor film and the first hard mask; a drain electrode over the oxide semiconductor film and the second hard mask; a gate insulating film over the source electrode and the drain electrode; and a gate electrode overlapping with the gate insulating film and the oxide semiconductor film, and the first and second hard masks have conductivity.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/197,880, filed Mar. 5, 2014, now allowed, which claims the benefit of a foreign priority application filed in Japan as Serial No. 2013-051622 on Mar. 14, 2013, both of which are incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a manufacturing method thereof.

Note that in this specification, a semiconductor device refers to any device that can function by utilizing semiconductor characteristics, and an electro-optical device, a semiconductor circuit, and an electronic device are all included in the category of semiconductor devices.

2. Description of the Related Art

Transistors used for most flat panel displays typified by a liquid crystal display device or a light-emitting display device are formed using a silicon semiconductor such as amorphous silicon, single crystal silicon, or polycrystalline silicon provided over a glass substrate. Further, such a transistor employing such a silicon semiconductor is used in integrated circuits (ICs) and the like.

In recent years, attention has been drawn to a technique in which, instead of a silicon semiconductor, a metal oxide exhibiting semiconductor characteristics is used in transistors. Note that in this specification, a metal oxide exhibiting semiconductor characteristics is referred to as an oxide semiconductor.

For example, a transistor formed using zinc oxide or an In—Ga—Zn-based oxide as an oxide semiconductor is disclosed (see Patent Document 1).

REFERENCE Patent Document [Patent Document 1] Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2006-165528 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to achieve high-speed operation, low power consumption, high integration, or the like of a transistor, it is necessary to miniaturize a transistor.

However, it is concerned that a yield of transistors in the manufacturing process is decreased due to miniaturization thereof. For example, when an oxide semiconductor film which serves as a channel is microfabricated to have an island shape, unevenness may be generated at a side surface of the oxide semiconductor film, which might cause an increase in variations in the shape of the oxide semiconductor film and bring about an adverse effect on electrical characteristics or reliability of the transistor.

Therefore, an object of one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a miniaturized transistor or the like having favorable electrical characteristics in a high yield.

Further, another object of one embodiment of the present invention is to achieve high performance, high reliability, and high productivity also in a semiconductor device or the like including the transistor.

In one embodiment of the present invention, with the use of a hard mask at the time when an oxide semiconductor film is microfabricated to have an island shape, unevenness of a side surface of the oxide semiconductor film can be suppressed; in other words, line edge roughness (LER) of the oxide semiconductor film can be reduced. Note that LER is a degree of unevenness of a side surface of a film. Further, a channel length can be shortened, with the use of a resist mask having a small line width, which is formed by exposing a resist to light using electron beam exposure, liquid immersion exposure, or the like. When part of the hard mask is formed using a material having conductivity, the hard mask can partly serve as part of a source electrode or a drain electrode. Therefore, the microfabrication of the source and drain electrodes can be performed by the hard mask. The specific structure and manufacturing method are described below.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor film over an insulating surface; a first hard mask and a second hard mask over the oxide semiconductor film; a source electrode over the oxide semiconductor film and the first hard mask; a drain electrode over the oxide semiconductor film and the second hard mask; a gate insulating film over the source electrode and the drain electrode; and a gate electrode overlapping with the gate insulating film and the oxide semiconductor film. The first and second hard masks have conductivity.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor film over an insulating surface; a first hard mask and a second hard mask over the oxide semiconductor film; a source electrode over the oxide semiconductor film and the first hard mask; a drain electrode over the oxide semiconductor film and the second hard mask; a gate insulating film over the source electrode and the drain electrode; and a gate electrode overlapping with the gate insulating film and the oxide semiconductor film. The first and second hard masks are stacked films, and one film of the stacked films that is in contact with the oxide semiconductor film has conductivity.

In the above structure, a first oxide film and a second oxide film between which the oxide semiconductor film is positioned are provided. The energy of the bottom of the conduction band in each of the first oxide film and the second oxide film is closer to a vacuum level than the energy of the bottom of the conduction band in the oxide semiconductor film is by 0.05 eV or higher and 2 eV or lower.

The semiconductor device having the above structure further includes a first low-resistance region between the oxide semiconductor film and the source electrode and between the oxide semiconductor film and the film having conductivity, and a second low-resistance region between the oxide semiconductor film and the drain electrode and between the oxide semiconductor film and the film having conductivity.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device including the following steps: forming a first oxide semiconductor film over an insulating surface; forming a first hard mask over the first oxide semiconductor film; forming a first resist over the first hard mask; exposing the first resist to light to form a first resist mask; etching the first hard mask using the first resist mask as a mask to form a second hard mask; removing the first resist mask; etching the first oxide semiconductor film using the second hard mask as a mask to form a second oxide semiconductor film; forming a source electrode and a drain electrode over the insulating surface, the second oxide semiconductor film, and the second hard mask; forming a second resist over the second hard mask, the source electrode, and the drain electrode; exposing the second resist to light to form a second resist mask; etching the second hard mask using the second resist mask as a mask to form a pair of third hard masks; removing the second resist mask; forming a gate insulating film over the second oxide semiconductor film, the source electrode, the drain electrode, and the pair of third hard masks; and forming a gate electrode over the gate insulating film to overlap with the second oxide semiconductor film.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device including the following steps: forming a first oxide semiconductor film over an insulating surface; forming a first hard mask over the first oxide semiconductor film; forming a first resist over the first hard mask; exposing the first resist to light to form a first resist mask; etching the first hard mask using the first resist mask as a mask to form a second hard mask; removing the first resist mask; etching the first oxide semiconductor film using the second hard mask as a mask to form a second oxide semiconductor film; forming a second resist over the insulating surface, the second oxide semiconductor film, and the second hard mask; exposing the second resist to light to form a second resist mask; etching the second hard mask using the second resist mask as a mask to form a pair of third hard masks; removing the second resist mask; forming a source electrode and a drain electrode over the insulating surface, the second oxide semiconductor film, and the pair of third hard masks; forming a gate insulating film over the second oxide semiconductor film, the source electrode, the drain electrode, and the pair of third hard masks; and forming a gate electrode over the gate insulating film to overlap with the second oxide semiconductor film.

Further, in the above manufacturing method, the light exposure is electron beam exposure or liquid immersion exposure.

Note that in this specification and the like, a hard mask refers to a mask formed using a material (a metal material or an insulating material) other than a material of a resist.

With the above structure, a miniaturized transistor having high electrical characteristics can be provided in a high yield.

Further, with the above structure, also in a semiconductor device including the transistor, high performance, high reliability, and high productivity can be achieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view illustrating a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A to 2C are cross-sectional views illustrating a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 3A to 3C are cross-sectional views illustrating a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A to 4C are cross-sectional views illustrating a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 5A to 5C are cross-sectional views illustrating a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 6A to 6C are cross-sectional views illustrating a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 7A to 7C are a plan view and cross-sectional views illustrating a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 8A to 8C are cross-sectional views illustrating a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 9A to 9C are cross-sectional views illustrating a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 10A to 10C are cross-sectional views illustrating a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are a cross-sectional view and a circuit diagram of a semiconductor device.

FIGS. 13A and 13B are a circuit diagram and a perspective view of a semiconductor device.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a semiconductor device.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor device.

FIGS. 16A to 16C are block diagrams of a semiconductor device.

FIGS. 17A and 17B illustrate electronic devices to which semiconductor devices can be applied.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments are described in detail with reference to drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following description and it is readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that modes and details can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit and the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited to the description of embodiments below. Note that in structures of the present invention described below, the same portions or portions having similar functions are denoted by the same reference numerals in different drawings, and description thereof is not repeated in some cases.

Note that functions of a “source” and a “drain” of a transistor are sometimes replaced with each other when a transistor of opposite polarity is used or when the direction of current flowing is changed in circuit operation, for example. Thus, the terms “source” and “drain” can be replaced with each other in this specification and the like.

Embodiment 1

In this embodiment, a transistor which is a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to drawings.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are a top view and a cross-sectional view of a transistor 150 of one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is the top view, and a cross section taken along a dashed-dotted line A1-A2 in FIG. 1A is illustrated in FIG. 1B. Note that for simplification of the drawing, some components in the top view in FIG. 1A are not illustrated.

The transistor 150 in FIGS. 1A and 1B includes a base insulating film 102 over a substrate 100; an oxide semiconductor film 104 over the base insulating film 102; a hard mask 106 a and a hard mask 106 b over the oxide semiconductor film 104; a hard mask 108 a over the hard mask 106 a; a hard mask 108 b over the hard mask 106 b; a source electrode 110 a over the base insulating film 102, the oxide semiconductor film 104, and the hard masks 106 a and 108 a; a drain electrode 110 b over the base insulating film 102, the oxide semiconductor film 104, and the hard masks 106 b and 108 b; a gate insulating film 112 over the oxide semiconductor film 104, the hard masks 106 a, 106 b, 108 a, and 108 b, the source electrode 110 a, and the drain electrode 110 b; and a gate electrode 114 over the gate insulating film 112. The hard masks 106 a and 106 b have conductivity. A low-resistance region 121 a is formed in a region of the oxide semiconductor film 104 that is in contact with the hard mask 106 a and the source electrode 110 a. A low-resistance region 121 b is formed in a region of the oxide semiconductor film 104 that is in contact with the hard mask 106 b and the drain electrode 110 b. In addition, an insulating film 116 may be provided over the gate insulating film 112 and the gate electrode 114. Note that the insulating film 116 is provided as needed and another insulating film may be further provided thereover.

There is no large limitation on the substrate 100. For example, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, a quartz substrate, or a sapphire substrate may be used as the substrate 100. Alternatively, a single crystal semiconductor substrate or a polycrystalline semiconductor substrate made of silicon, silicon carbide, or the like, a compound semiconductor substrate made of silicon germanium or the like, a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate, or the like may be used as the substrate 100. Still alternatively, any of these substrates provided with a semiconductor element may be used as the substrate 100.

In the case of using a large glass substrate such as the fifth generation (1000 mm×1200 mm or 1300 mm×1500 mm), the sixth generation (1500 mm×1800 mm), the seventh generation (1870 mm×2200 mm), the eighth generation (2200 mm×2500 mm); the ninth generation (2400 mm×2800 mm), or the tenth generation (2880 mm×3130 mm) as the substrate 100, in some cases, microfabrication is difficult due to the shrinkage of the substrate 100, which is caused by heat treatment or the like in a manufacturing process of the semiconductor device. Therefore, in the case where the above-described large glass substrate is used as the substrate 100, a substrate which is unlikely to shrink through the heat treatment is preferably used. For example, as the substrate 100, it is possible to use a large glass substrate in which the amount of shrinkage after heat treatment which is performed for an hour at 400° C., preferably 450° C., further preferably 500° C. is less than or equal to 10 ppm, preferably less than or equal to 5 ppm, further preferably less than or equal to 3 ppm.

Still alternatively, a flexible substrate may be used as the substrate 100. As a method for providing a transistor over a flexible substrate, there is a method in which a transistor is formed over a non-flexible substrate, and then the transistor is separated and transferred to the substrate 100 which is a flexible substrate. In that case, a separation layer is preferably provided between the non-flexible substrate and the transistor.

The base insulating film 102, from which oxygen is released by heat treatment, has a function of supplying oxygen to the oxide semiconductor film as well as a function of preventing diffusion of an impurity from the substrate 100; thus, the base insulating film 102 is preferably an insulating film containing oxygen, further preferably an insulating film containing excess oxygen. Note that in the case where the substrate 100 is a substrate where another device is formed as described above, the base insulating film 102 has also a function as an interlayer insulating film. In that case, the base insulating film 102 is preferably subjected to planarization treatment such as chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) treatment so as to have a flat surface.

As the base insulating film 102, for example, a single layer selected from a silicon oxide film, a gallium oxide film, a zinc oxide film, an aluminum oxide film, a gallium zinc oxide film, a silicon nitride film, a silicon oxynitride film, an aluminum oxynitride film, and a silicon nitride oxide film or a stack of any of these films can be used.

Here, a film from which oxygen is released by heat treatment may release oxygen, the amount of which is higher than or equal to 1×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, higher than or equal to 1×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, or higher than or equal to 1×10²⁰ atoms/cm³ in TDS analysis (converted into the number of oxygen atoms). The TDS analysis may be performed when a temperature of a film surface is higher than or equal to 100° C. and lower than or equal to 700° C., preferably higher than or equal to 100° C. and lower than or equal to 500° C.

Further, the film from which oxygen is released by heat treatment may contain a peroxide radical. Specifically, the spin density attributed to a peroxide radical is 5×10¹⁷ spins/cm³ or higher. Note that the film containing a peroxide radical may have an asymmetric signal at a g factor of around 2.01 generated in electron spin resonance (ESR).

The insulating film containing excess oxygen may be oxygen-excess silicon oxide (SiO_(X) (X>2)). In the oxygen-excess silicon oxide (SiO_(X) (X>2)), the number of oxygen atoms per unit volume is more than twice the number of silicon atoms per unit volume. The number of silicon atoms and the number of oxygen atoms per unit volume are measured by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS).

The oxide semiconductor film 104 includes at least indium. The oxide semiconductor film 104 may include zinc in addition to indium, for example.

The concentration of silicon in the oxide semiconductor film 104 is described below. In order to obtain stable electrical characteristics of a transistor, it is effective to reduce the concentration of impurities in the oxide semiconductor film 104 so that the oxide semiconductor film 104 becomes intrinsic or substantially intrinsic. Specifically, the carrier density of the oxide semiconductor film is preferably set to lower than 1×10¹⁷/cm³, lower than 1×10¹⁵/cm³, or lower than 1×10¹³/cm³. In the oxide semiconductor film, a light element, a semimetal element, a metal element, and the like (lower than 1 atomic %), other than main components serve as impurities. For example, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, silicon, and germanium serve as impurities in the oxide semiconductor film.

Further, in the oxide semiconductor film 104, hydrogen and nitrogen generate a donor level, and increase the carrier density. The concentration of hydrogen in the oxide semiconductor film 104, which is measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), is set to lower than or equal to 2×10²⁰ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, further preferably lower than or equal to 1×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, still further preferably lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³. The concentration of nitrogen in the oxide semiconductor film 104, which is measured by SIMS, is set to be lower than 5×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, further preferably lower than or equal to 1×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, still further preferably lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁷ atoms/cm³.

It is preferable to reduce the concentrations of hydrogen and nitrogen in the gate insulating film 112, which is adjacent to the oxide semiconductor film 104, in order to reduce the concentrations of hydrogen and nitrogen in the oxide semiconductor film 104.

Further, the concentration of alkali metal or alkaline earth metal in the oxide semiconductor film 104, which is measured by SIMS, is set to lower than or equal to 1×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than or equal to 2×10¹⁶ atoms/cm³. This is because an alkali metal and an alkaline earth metal might generate carriers when bonded to an oxide semiconductor, in which case the off-state current of the transistor might be increased.

A transistor in which a highly purified oxide semiconductor film is used for a channel formation region as described above has an extremely low off-state current, and the off-state current standardized on the channel width of the transistor can be as low as several yoctoamperes per micrometer to several zeptoamperes per micrometer.

The oxide semiconductor film can be microfabricated in the following manner. First, a hard mask and a resist are formed over the oxide semiconductor film. Next, light exposure is performed, so that a resist mask is formed over the hard mask. Then, the hard mask is etched. After that, the resist mask is removed, and then the oxide semiconductor film is etched using the hard mask as a mask. In this manner, LER of the oxide semiconductor film can be reduced. As the light exposure method, electron beam exposure, liquid immersion exposure in which ArF excimer laser light is used as a light source, or extreme ultraviolet (EUV) exposure may be used.

A structure of the oxide semiconductor film is described below.

An oxide semiconductor film is classified roughly into a single-crystal oxide semiconductor film and a non-single-crystal oxide semiconductor film. The non-single-crystal oxide semiconductor film includes any of an amorphous oxide semiconductor film, a microcrystalline oxide semiconductor film, a polycrystalline oxide semiconductor film, a c-axis aligned crystalline oxide semiconductor (CAAC-OS) film, and the like.

The amorphous oxide semiconductor film has disordered atomic arrangement and no crystalline component. A typical example thereof is an oxide semiconductor film in which no crystal part exists even in a microscopic region, and the whole of the film is amorphous.

The microcrystalline oxide semiconductor film includes a microcrystal (also referred to as nanocrystal) with a size greater than or equal to 1 nm and less than 10 nm, for example. Thus, the microcrystalline oxide semiconductor film has a higher degree of atomic order than the amorphous oxide semiconductor film. Hence, the density of defect states of the microcrystalline oxide semiconductor film is lower than that of the amorphous oxide semiconductor film.

The CAAC-OS film is one of oxide semiconductor films including a plurality of crystal parts, and most of the crystal parts each fit inside a cube whose one side is less than 100 nm. Thus, there is a case where a crystal part included in the CAAC-OS film fits inside a cube whose one side is less than 10 nm, less than 5 nm, or less than 3 nm. The density of defect states of the CAAC-OS film is lower than that of the microcrystalline oxide semiconductor film. The CAAC-OS film is described in detail below.

In a transmission electron microscope (TEM) image of the CAAC-OS film, a boundary between crystal parts, that is, a grain boundary is not clearly observed. Thus, in the CAAC-OS film, a reduction in electron mobility due to the grain boundary is less likely to occur.

According to the TEM image of the CAAC-OS film observed in a direction substantially parallel to a sample surface (cross-sectional TEM image), metal atoms are arranged in a layered manner in the crystal parts. Each metal atom layer has a morphology reflected by a surface over which the CAAC-OS film is formed (hereinafter, a surface over which the CAAC-OS film is formed is referred to as a formation surface) or a top surface of the CAAC-OS film, and is arranged in parallel to the formation surface or the top surface of the CAAC-OS film.

On the other hand, according to the TEM image of the CAAC-OS film observed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sample surface (plan TEM image), metal atoms are arranged in a triangular or hexagonal configuration in the crystal parts. However, there is no regularity of arrangement of metal atoms between different crystal parts.

From the results of the cross-sectional TEM image and the plan TEM image, alignment is found in the crystal parts in the CAAC-OS film.

A CAAC-OS film is subjected to structural analysis with an X-ray diffraction (XRD) apparatus. For example, when the CAAC-OS film including an InGaZnO₄ crystal is analyzed by an out-of-plane method, a peak appears frequently when the diffraction angle (2θ) is around 31°. This peak is derived from the (009) plane of the InGaZnO₄ crystal, which indicates that crystals in the CAAC-OS film have c-axis alignment, and that the c-axes are aligned in a direction substantially perpendicular to the formation surface or the top surface of the CAAC-OS film.

On the other hand, when the CAAC-OS film is analyzed by an in-plane method in which an X-ray enters a sample in a direction substantially perpendicular to the c-axis, a peak appears frequently when 2θ is around 56°. This peak is derived from the (110) plane of the InGaZnO₄ crystal. Here, analysis (φ scan) is performed under conditions where the sample is rotated around a normal vector of a sample surface as an axis (φ axis) with 2θ fixed at around 56°. In the case where the sample is a single-crystal oxide semiconductor film of InGaZnO₄, six peaks appear. The six peaks are derived from crystal planes equivalent to the (110) plane. On the other hand, in the case of a CAAC-OS film, a peak is not clearly observed even when φ scan is performed with 2θ fixed at around 56°.

According to the above results, in the CAAC-OS film having c-axis alignment, while the directions of a-axes and b-axes are different between crystal parts, the c-axes are aligned in a direction parallel to a normal vector of a formation surface or a normal vector of a top surface. Thus, each metal atom layer arranged in a layered manner observed in the cross-sectional TEM image corresponds to a plane parallel to the a-b plane of the crystal.

Note that the crystal part is formed concurrently with deposition of the CAAC-OS film or is formed through crystallization treatment such as heat treatment. As described above, the c-axis of the crystal is aligned in a direction parallel to a normal vector of a formation surface or a normal vector of a top surface. Thus, for example, in the case where a shape of the CAAC-OS film is changed by etching or the like, the c-axis might not be necessarily parallel to a normal vector of a formation surface or a normal vector of a top surface of the CAAC-OS film.

Further, the degree of crystallinity in the CAAC-OS film is not necessarily uniform. For example, in the case where crystal growth leading to the CAAC-OS film occurs from the vicinity of the top surface of the film, the degree of the crystallinity in the vicinity of the top surface is higher than that in the vicinity of the formation surface in some cases. Further, when an impurity is added to the CAAC-OS film, the crystallinity in a region to which the impurity is added is changed, and the degree of crystallinity in the CAAC-OS film varies depending on regions.

Note that when the CAAC-OS film with an InGaZnO₄ crystal is analyzed by an out-of-plane method, a peak of 2θ may also be observed at around 36°, in addition to the peak of 2θ at around 31°. The peak of 2θ at around 36° indicates that a crystal having no c-axis alignment is included in part of the CAAC-OS film. It is preferable that in the CAAC-OS film, a peak of 2θ appears at around 31° and a peak of 2θ do not appear at around 36°.

With the use of the CAAC-OS film in a transistor, variation in electrical characteristics of the transistor due to irradiation with visible light or ultraviolet light is small. Thus, the transistor has high reliability.

Note that an oxide semiconductor film may be a stacked film including two or more kinds of an amorphous oxide semiconductor film, a microcrystalline oxide semiconductor film, and a CAAC-OS film, for example.

In this specification, a term “parallel” indicates that the angle formed between two straight lines is greater than or equal to −10° and less than or equal to 10°, and accordingly also includes the case where the angle is greater than or equal to −5° and less than or equal to 5°. In addition, a term “perpendicular” indicates that the angle formed between two straight lines is greater than or equal to 80° and less than or equal to 100°, and accordingly includes the case where the angle is greater than or equal to 85° and less than or equal to 95°.

In this specification, trigonal and rhombohedral crystal systems are included in a hexagonal crystal system.

For example, a CAAC-OS film can be deposited by a sputtering method using a polycrystalline oxide semiconductor sputtering target. When ions collide with the sputtering target, a crystal region included in the sputtering target may be separated from the target along the a-b plane, and a sputtered particle having a plane parallel to the a-b plane (flat-plate-like sputtered particle or a pellet-like sputtered particle) might be separated from the sputtering target. In that case, the flat-plate-like sputtered particle reaches a substrate while maintaining its crystal state, whereby the CAAC-OS film can be formed.

For the deposition of the CAAC-OS film, the following conditions are preferably used.

By reducing the amount of impurities entering the CAAC-OS film during the deposition, the crystal state can be prevented from being broken by the impurities. For example, impurities (e.g., hydrogen, water, carbon dioxide, or nitrogen) which exist in the deposition chamber may be reduced. Furthermore, impurities in a deposition gas may be reduced. Specifically, a film formation gas whose dew point is −80° C. or lower, preferably −100° C. or lower, more preferably −120° C. or lower is used.

By increasing the substrate heating temperature during the deposition, migration of a sputtered particle is likely to occur after the sputtered particle reaches a substrate surface. Specifically, the substrate heating temperature during the deposition is higher than or equal to 100° C. and lower than or equal to 740° C., preferably higher than or equal to 200° C. and lower than or equal to 500° C. By increasing the substrate heating temperature during the deposition, when the flat-plate-like sputtered particle reaches the substrate, migration occurs on the substrate surface, so that a flat plane of the flat-plate-like sputtered particle is attached to the substrate.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the proportion of oxygen in the deposition gas be increased and the power be optimized in order to reduce plasma damage at the deposition. The proportion of oxygen in the deposition gas is higher than or equal to 30 vol %, preferably 100 vol %.

As an example of the sputtering target, an In—Ga—Zn—O compound target is described below.

The In—Ga—Zn—O compound target, which is polycrystalline, is made by mixing InO_(X) powder, GaO_(Y) powder, and ZnO_(Z) powder in a predetermined molar ratio, applying pressure, and performing heat treatment at a temperature higher than or equal to 1000° C. and lower than or equal to 1500° C. Note that X, Y, and Z are each a given positive number. The kinds of powder and the molar ratio for mixing powder may be determined as appropriate depending on the desired sputtering target.

Note that when silicon and carbon are contained in the oxide semiconductor film 104 at a high concentration, the crystallinity of the oxide semiconductor film 104 is lowered in some cases. In order not to lower the crystallinity of the oxide semiconductor film 104, the concentration of silicon in the oxide semiconductor film 104 is set to be lower than 1×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than 5×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, further preferably lower than 2×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³. Moreover, in order not to lower the crystallinity of the oxide semiconductor film 104, the concentration of carbon in the oxide semiconductor film 104 is set to be lower than 1×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than 5×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, further preferably lower than 2×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³.

As described above, in the case where the oxide semiconductor film 104 in which a channel is formed has high crystallinity and the density of states due to an impurity or a defect is low, a transistor including the oxide semiconductor film 104 has stable electrical characteristics.

The hard masks 106 a and 106 b may each be a single layer or a stacked layer of a simple substance selected from Ti, Mo, Ta, and W; a nitride containing one or more kinds of the above substances; or an alloy containing one or more kinds of the above substances. Since the hard masks 106 a and 106 b have conductivity, they serve as parts of the source and drain electrodes.

For the hard masks 108 a and 108 b, a single layer or a stacked layer using any of oxide insulating films such as a silicon oxide film and nitride insulating films such as a silicon nitride film can be used. Alternatively, an oxide or an oxynitride which contains at least In and Zn may be used. For example, an In—Ga—Zn—O—N-based material may be used.

For the source electrode 110 a and the drain electrode 110 b, a conductive material which is more likely to be bonded to oxygen than a metal element included in the oxide semiconductor film is can be used. For example, Al, Cr, Cu, Ta, Ti, Mo, W, or Ti can be used. W having a high melting point is especially preferred because a relatively high process temperature can be employed in a later step. Note that a conductive material which is likely to be bonded to oxygen includes a material to which oxygen is easily diffused. Alternatively, a plurality of the above materials may be stacked. For example, Cu may be stacked over W.

A material of each of the hard masks having conductivity and a conductive film to be the source electrode and the drain electrode is a conductive material which is more likely to be bonded to oxygen than a metal element included in the oxide semiconductor film is; therefore, oxygen in the oxide semiconductor film 104 is bonded to the conductive material. The bonding causes oxygen vacancy in a region of the oxide semiconductor film 104 in the vicinity of interfaces with the hard mask having conductivity and with the conductive film. Alternatively, damage (oxygen vacancy) to the top surface (or a side surface) of the oxide semiconductor film 104 is caused when the hard mask having conductivity and the conductive film are formed on the top surface (or at the side surface) of the oxide semiconductor film 104. Regions whose resistances are reduced owing to the oxygen vacancy and hydrogen, i.e., the low-resistance regions 121 a and 121 b are formed, so that contact resistance between the oxide semiconductor film and the source electrode or the drain electrode is reduced. Also in the case where the material of the conductive film is a conductive material which is easily diffused into the oxide semiconductor film by heat treatment, the low-resistance regions 121 a and 121 b are formed.

Therefore, a channel formation region of the transistor 150 corresponds to a region A (not illustrated) of the oxide semiconductor film 104 between the low-resistance regions 121 a and 121 b. The channel formation region of the transistor 150 has lowered resistance (in other words, the channel formation region has n-type conductivity) because of the existence of the hard mask having conductivity to be the hard masks 106 a and 106 b. Therefore, it is necessary that the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor film 104 is reduced so that the oxide semiconductor film is a highly purified to be intrinsic. Obtaining a highly purified intrinsic oxide semiconductor film refers to purifying or substantially purifying the oxide semiconductor film to be an intrinsic or substantially intrinsic oxide semiconductor film. The term “substantially intrinsic” refers to the state where an oxide semiconductor film has a carrier density lower than 1×10¹⁷/cm³, preferably lower than 1×10¹⁵/cm³, further preferably lower than 1×10¹³/cm³.

In order that the channel formation region of the transistor 150 is a highly purified to be intrinsic, oxygen is added to the region A of the oxide semiconductor film 104. The addition of oxygen can reduces the amount of oxygen vacancy, so that a highly purified intrinsic region can be formed. Accordingly, the highly purified intrinsic region and the low resistance regions can be formed.

Further, excess oxygen can be easily released from the base insulating film 102 and the insulating film 116 by heat treatment, so that the oxygen vacancy in the oxide semiconductor film 104 can be reduced. Thus, the amount of oxygen vacancy in the channel formation region of the oxide semiconductor film 104 is further reduced, so that the channel formation region is a highly purified intrinsic region.

The gate insulating film 112 may be formed of a single layer or a stacked layer using an insulating film containing one or more of aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide, silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, silicon nitride, gallium oxide, germanium oxide, yttrium oxide, zirconium oxide, lanthanum oxide, neodymium oxide, hafnium oxide, and tantalum oxide.

A silicon oxide film can be used for the gate insulating film 112, for example. As the silicon oxide film, a silicon oxide film whose defect density is small is preferably used. Specifically, a silicon oxide film whose spin density attributed to a signal with a g factor of 2.001 in ESR is lower than or equal to 3×10¹⁷ spins/cm³, preferably lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁶ spins/cm³ is used. As the silicon oxide film, a silicon oxide film containing excess oxygen is preferably used.

For the gate electrode 114, a conductive film formed using Al, Ti, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Y, Zr, Mo, Ru, Ag, Ta, W, or the like can be used. The gate electrode 114 may be a stacked layer of any of the above materials.

The insulating film 116 may be formed of a single layer or a stacked layer using an insulating film containing one or more of aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide, silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, silicon nitride, gallium oxide, germanium oxide, yttrium oxide, zirconium oxide, lanthanum oxide, neodymium oxide, hafnium oxide, and tantalum oxide.

The insulating film 116 may be, for example, a stacked film including a silicon oxide film as a first layer and a silicon nitride film as a second layer. In this case, the silicon oxide film may be a silicon oxynitride film. The silicon nitride film may be a silicon nitride oxide film. As the silicon oxide film, a silicon oxide film having a small defect density is preferably used. Specifically, a silicon oxide film whose spin density attributed to a signal with a g factor of 2.001 in ESR is lower than or equal to 3×10¹⁷ spins/cm³, preferably lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁶ spins/cm³ is used. As the silicon nitride film, a silicon nitride film from which a hydrogen gas and an ammonia gas are less likely to be released is used. The amount of released hydrogen and ammonia gases may be measured by thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). Further, as the silicon nitride film, a silicon nitride film which does not transmit or hardly transmits hydrogen, water, and oxygen is used.

The insulating film 116 may be, for example, a stacked film including a first silicon oxide film as a first layer, a second silicon oxide film as a second layer, and a silicon nitride film as a third layer. In this case, one of or both the first silicon oxide film and the second silicon oxide film may be a silicon oxynitride film. The silicon nitride film may be a silicon nitride oxide film. As the first silicon oxide film, a silicon oxide film having a small defect density is preferably used. Specifically, a silicon oxide film whose spin density attributed to a signal with a g factor of 2.001 in ESR is lower than or equal to 3×10¹⁷ spins/cm³, preferably lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁶ spins/cm³ is used. As the second silicon oxide film, a silicon oxide film containing excess oxygen is used. As the silicon nitride film, a silicon nitride film from which a hydrogen gas and an ammonia gas are less likely to be released is used. The amount of released hydrogen and ammonia gases may be measured by TDS. Further, as the silicon nitride film, a silicon nitride film which does not transmit or hardly transmits hydrogen, water, and oxygen is used.

In the case where at least one of the gate insulating film 112 and the insulating film 116 includes an insulating film containing excess oxygen, oxygen vacancy in the oxide semiconductor film 104 is reduced, so that stable electrical characteristics of a transistor can be achieved.

Next, a method for manufacturing the transistor 150 is described with reference to FIGS. 2A to 2C, FIGS. 3A to 3C, and FIGS. 4A to 4C.

First, the substrate 100 is prepared.

Next, the base insulating film 102 is formed over the substrate 100. Then, an oxide semiconductor film 103 is formed over the base insulating film 102 (see FIG. 2A). The base insulating film 102 has a function of suppressing entry of impurities from the substrate 100 side. The base insulating film 102 can be formed by a plasma CVD (chemical vapor deposition) method, a sputtering method, or the like.

The oxide semiconductor film 103 may be formed by a sputtering method, a CVD method, an MBE method, an ALD method, or a PLD method.

In the case where the oxide semiconductor film 103 is formed by a sputtering method, a power supply device for generating plasma can be an RF power supply device, an AC power supply device, a DC power supply device, or the like as appropriate.

As a sputtering gas, a rare gas (typically argon), an oxygen, or a mixed gas of a rare gas and oxygen is used as appropriate. In the case of using the mixed gas of a rare gas and oxygen, the proportion of oxygen is preferably higher than that of a rare gas.

Further, a material, formation conditions, and the like of a target may be selected as appropriate in accordance with the composition, crystallinity, and the like of the oxide semiconductor film 103.

In the case of using a sputtering method, at least the oxide semiconductor film 103 can become a CAAC-OS film by the following method. Specifically, the oxide semiconductor film 103 is formed while the substrate is heated at a temperature higher than or equal to 150° C. and lower than or equal to 500° C., preferably higher than or equal to 150° C. and lower than or equal to 450° C., more preferably higher than or equal to 200° C. and lower than or equal to 350° C.

Subsequently, first heat treatment is preferably performed. The first heat treatment can be performed at a temperature higher than or equal to 250° C. and lower than or equal to 650° C., preferably higher than or equal to 300° C. and lower than or equal to 500° C. The first heat treatment is performed in an inert gas atmosphere, an atmosphere containing an oxidizing gas at 10 ppm or more, preferably 1% or more, or more preferably 10% or more, or under reduced pressure. Alternatively, the first heat treatment may be performed in such a manner that heat treatment is performed in an inert gas atmosphere, and then another heat treatment is performed in an atmosphere containing an oxidizing gas at 10 ppm or more, preferably 1% or more, or more preferably 10% or more in order to compensate desorbed oxygen. The first heat treatment enables the crystallinity of the oxide semiconductor film 103 to be improved, and in addition, impurities such as water, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon to be removed from the oxide semiconductor film 103.

Next, hard masks 105 and 107 are formed over the oxide semiconductor film 103, and a resist is formed over the hard mask 107. Then, the resist is exposed to an electron beam, so that a resist mask 122 is formed (see FIG. 2B). The hard mask 105 is more likely to be bonded to oxygen than a metal element included in the oxide semiconductor film is, and has conductivity. Thus, in this case, since the material of the hard mask 105 is a conductive material which is likely to be bonded to oxygen, oxygen in the oxide semiconductor film 103 is bonded to the conductive material (the hard mask 105). The bonding causes oxygen vacancy in a region of the oxide semiconductor film 103 in the vicinity of an interface with the hard mask 105. Alternatively, damage (oxygen vacancy) to the top surface of the oxide semiconductor film 103 is caused when the hard mask 105 is formed over the oxide semiconductor film 103. By the oxygen vacancy, the low-resistance region 120 is formed. In this embodiment, a low-resistance region 120 exists in a region at a depth of greater than 0 nm and less than or equal to 15 nm, preferably less than 10 nm, further preferably less than 3 nm from the interface between the oxide semiconductor film 103 and the hard mask 105 in the depth direction of the oxide semiconductor film 103.

The formation of the low-resistance region 120 can reduce contact resistance between the oxide semiconductor film and a hard mask having conductivity which is to be formed later and serves as part of the source electrode or the drain electrode, resulting in high-speed operation of the transistor 150.

Here, in an electron beam writing apparatus capable of electron beam irradiation, the acceleration voltage is preferably higher than or equal to 5 kV and lower than or equal to 50 kV, for example. The current intensity is preferably greater than or equal to 5×10⁻¹² A and less than or equal to 1×10⁻¹¹ A. The minimum beam size is preferably 2 nm or less. The minimum possible pattern line width is preferably 8 nm or less.

Under the above conditions, the resist mask 122 with a width of, for example, 1 nm or more and 30 nm or less, preferably 20 nm or less, more preferably 8 nm or less, can be obtained.

For the exposure to an electron beam, it is preferable that the resist mask 122 be as thin as possible so that the resist mask 122 has a minute line width. When the resist mask 122 is thin, a surface on which the resist mask is formed is preferably as flat as possible. In the method for manufacturing the semiconductor device of this embodiment, the unevenness due to the base insulating film 102 and the like can be reduced by planarization treatment such as a polishing treatment (e.g., CMP treatment), etching (dry etching or wet etching) treatment, plasma treatment, or the like of the base insulating film 102 and the like; thus, the resist mask can be thin. This facilitates the exposure to an electron beam.

The channel length of the transistor 150 is preferably equal in any part of the transistor. In the case where the shape of the channel formation region of the transistor includes a curved line, it is preferable to form the curved line by exposure to an electron beam so as to be smooth and so as to have an equal the line width. Note that a channel length refers to a distance between a source electrode and a drain electrode of a transistor.

In order to form a smooth curved line with an equal line width by exposure to an electron beam, there is a method for exposure of a curved line by rotating a stage overlapping with a substrate thereon, for example. With a linearly movable stage, a resist mask can also be patterned so that the channel length of the transistor becomes equal, by using a method in which the size or direction of a figure for dividing electron beam writing regions is optimized in accordance with the pattern of the electron beam, a multi-pass writing method in which a figure is shifted by a uniform width and writing is performed with an overlap so that the amount of light exposure of a pattern becomes equal, or the like. It is preferable to use the above method or the like to form a resist mask with an equal line width so that the channel length of the transistor 150 becomes equal.

Instead of exposure using an electron beam, liquid immersion exposure in which ArF excimer laser light is used as a light source or EUV exposure may be used.

Next, the hard masks 105 and 107 are selectively etched using the resist mask 122 as a mask to form hard masks 106 and 108 (see FIG. 2C). Then, the resist mask 122 is removed. There is no particular limitation on the removal treatment; for example, etching, aching using oxygen plasma, or the like may be performed.

Note that for each of the hard masks 105 and 107, a hard mask which has a high etching selection ratio with respect to the resist mask 122 and with which a pattern of the resist mask 122 can be easily formed even if the resist mask 122 is thin is preferably used. Further, it is preferable that the hard masks 106 and 108 be not easily etched under conditions where the oxide semiconductor film 103 is etched because the masks 106 and 108 are used as masks when the oxide semiconductor film 103 is etched.

Next, the oxide semiconductor film 103 is selectively etched with the hard masks 106 and 108 as masks, so that the oxide semiconductor film 104 and a low-resistance region 120 a are formed (see FIG. 3A).

Next, a conductive film to be the source electrode 110 a and the drain electrode 110 b is formed over the base insulating film 102, the oxide semiconductor film 104, and the hard masks 106 and 108, and then part of the conductive film is processed to form the source electrode 110 a and the drain electrode 110 b (see FIG. 3B). The conductive film may be formed by a sputtering method, a CVD method, an MBE method, an ALD method, or a PLD method using the material of the source electrode 110 a and the drain electrode 110 b described above.

The source electrode 110 a and the drain electrode 110 b are each formed using a conductive material which is more likely to be bonded to oxygen than a metal element included in the oxide semiconductor film is. In this case, since the material of the conductive film is a conductive material which is likely to be bonded to oxygen, oxygen in the oxide semiconductor film 104 is bonded to the conductive material (the conductive film). The bonding causes oxygen vacancy in a region of the oxide semiconductor film 104 in the vicinity of an interface with the conductive film. Alternatively, damage (oxygen vacancy) to the top surface (or a side surface) of the oxide semiconductor film 104 is caused when the conductive film is formed on the top surface (or at the side surface) of the oxide semiconductor film 104. By the oxygen vacancy, a low-resistance region 120 b is formed. In this embodiment, the low-resistance region 120 b exists in a region at a depth of greater than 0 nm and less than or equal to 15 nm, preferably less than 10 nm, further preferably less than 3 nm from the interface between the oxide semiconductor film 104 and the conductive film in the depth direction of the oxide semiconductor film 104.

The formation of the low-resistance region 120 b can reduce contact resistance between the oxide semiconductor film 104 and the source electrode 110 a or the drain electrode 110 b, resulting in high-speed operation of the transistor 150.

Next, similarly to the resist mask 122, a resist mask 124 is formed in such a manner that a resist is formed over the hard mask 108, the source electrode 110 a, and the drain electrode 110 b, and the resist is exposed to an electron beam (see FIG. 3C).

Instead of exposure using an electron beam, liquid immersion exposure in which ArF excimer laser light is used as a light source or EUV exposure may be used.

Next, the hard masks 106 and 108 are selectively etched using the resist mask 124 as a mask to form the hard masks 106 a, 106 b, 108 a, and 108 b (see FIG. 4A). Then, the resist mask 124 is removed. There is no particular limitation on the removal treatment; for example, etching, ashing using oxygen plasma, or the like may be performed.

Next, the gate insulating film 112 is formed (see FIG. 4B). The gate insulating film 112 may be formed by a sputtering method, a CVD method, an MBE method, an ALD method, or a PLD method using a material of the gate insulating film 112 described above.

Next, oxygen 130 is added to the region A which is to be the channel formation region of the oxide semiconductor film 104, so that the low-resistance regions 121 a and 121 b are formed.

Oxygen can be added to the region A of the oxide semiconductor film 104 by an ion doping method or an ion implantation method. Alternatively, as a method for adding the oxygen 130, a plasma immersion ion implantation method may be used. Alternatively, the oxygen 130 can be added by a method other than an ion doping method, an ion implantation method, or the like. For example, the oxygen 130 can be added in such a manner that plasma is generated in an oxygen atmosphere and then the region A is subjected to plasma treatment in the oxygen atmosphere. As an apparatus for generating plasma, a dry etching apparatus, a plasma CVD apparatus, a high-density plasma CVD apparatus, or the like can be used.

As the oxygen 130, at least one of an oxygen radical, an oxygen atom, and an oxygen ion is added to the region A of the oxide semiconductor film 104. Further, the oxygen 130 may be added to at least part of the region A, specifically any of a surface of the region A of the oxide semiconductor film 104, an inner part of the region A of the oxide semiconductor film 104, and the interface between the region A of the oxide semiconductor film 104 and the base insulating film 102.

In the case where the oxygen 130 is added to the region A of the oxide semiconductor film 104 by an ion doping method or an ion implantation method, the amount of the oxygen 130 in adding the oxygen 130 to the region A of the oxide semiconductor film 104 is larger than or equal to 5×10¹⁹/cm³ and smaller than or equal to 5×10²¹/cm³. In this case, when the oxygen has high energy, the region A of the oxide semiconductor film 104 is damaged and physical defects are caused. Therefore, the oxygen preferably has such energy which does not cause damage on the oxide semiconductor film 104. The region A of the oxide semiconductor film 104 includes a region in which an oxygen content increases from the surface toward the depth direction of the oxide semiconductor film 104.

The whole low-resistance region 121 a does not necessarily overlap with the hard mask 106 a serving as part of the source electrode, and the low-resistance region 121 a may include a region which extends to the low-resistance region 121 b side and does not overlap with the hard mask 106 a. Further, the whole low-resistance region 121 b does not necessarily overlap with the hard mask 106 b serving as part of the drain electrode, and the low-resistance region 121 b may include a region which extends to the low-resistance region 121 a side and does not overlap with the hard mask 106 b. The low-resistance regions 121 a and 121 b do not necessarily have uniform thickness. For example, the end portion of the low-resistance region 121 a which does not overlap with the hard mask 106 a may gently spread from the bottom surface toward the surface of the low-resistance region 121 a. In a similar manner, for example, the end portion of the low-resistance region 121 b which does not overlap with the hard mask 106 b may gently spread from the bottom surface toward the surface of the low-resistance region 121 b.

Next, second heat treatment is preferably performed. The second heat treatment can be performed in a similar condition to the first heat treatment. By the second heat treatment, impurities such as hydrogen and water can be further removed from the oxide semiconductor film 104.

Next, a conductive film to be the gate electrode 114 is formed over the gate insulating film 112 and then part of the conductive film is processed to form the gate electrode 114 (see FIG. 4C). The conductive film may be formed by a sputtering method, a CVD method, an MBE method, an ALD method, or a PLD method using a material of the gate electrode 114 described above.

Next, the insulating film 116 is formed over the gate insulating film 112 and the gate electrode 114. The insulating film 116 can be formed by a plasma CVD method, a sputtering method, or the like.

Next, third heat treatment is preferably performed. The third heat treatment can be performed in a similar condition to the first heat treatment. In the case where the base insulating film 102 and the insulating film 116 contain excess oxygen, the excess oxygen is easily released from the base insulating film 102 and the insulating film 116 by the third heat treatment, so that oxygen vacancy in the oxide semiconductor film 104 can be reduced. Accordingly, the amount of oxygen vacancy in the channel formation region of the oxide semiconductor film 104 can be further reduced, so that the channel formation region becomes a highly purified intrinsic region.

In this manner, the transistor 150 can be manufactured.

By such a manufacturing method, when the oxide semiconductor film is microfabricated to have an island shape, unevenness of a side surface of the oxide semiconductor film can be suppressed. Accordingly, a miniaturized transistor having high electrical characteristics can be provided in a high yield. Further, also in a semiconductor device including the transistor, high performance, high reliability, and high productivity can be achieved.

This embodiment can be combined with any of the other embodiments in this specification as appropriate.

Embodiment 2

In this embodiment, a manufacturing method different from that of the transistor described in Embodiment 1 is described with reference to drawings.

As in Embodiment 1, through the steps shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C and FIG. 3A, the base insulating film 102, the oxide semiconductor film 104, the low-resistance region 120 a, the hard mask 106, and the hard mask 108 are formed over the substrate 100 (see FIG. 5A).

Next, a resist is formed over the base insulating film 102, the oxide semiconductor film 104, the hard mask 106, and the hard mask 108. Then, the resist is exposed to an electron beam, so that the resist mask 124 is formed (see FIG. 5B).

Instead of exposure using an electron beam, liquid immersion exposure in which ArF excimer laser light is used as a light source or EUV exposure may be used.

Next, the hard masks 106 and 108 are selectively etched using the resist mask 124 as a mask to form the hard masks 106 a, 106 b, 108 a, and 108 b (see FIG. 5C). Then, the resist mask 124 is removed. There is no particular limitation on the removal treatment; for example, etching, ashing using oxygen plasma, or the like may be performed.

Next, a conductive film to be the source electrode 110 a and the drain electrode 110 a is formed over the base insulating film 102, the oxide semiconductor film 104, and the hard masks 106 a, 106 b, 108 a, and 108 b, and then part of the conductive film is processed to form the source electrode 110 a and the drain electrode 110 b (see FIG. 6A). Embodiment 1 can be referred to for a material and a manufacturing method of the insulating film.

The source electrode 110 a and the drain electrode 110 b are each formed using a conductive material which is more likely to be bonded to oxygen than a metal element included in the oxide semiconductor film is. In this case, since the material of the conductive film is a conductive material which is likely to be bonded to oxygen, oxygen in the oxide semiconductor film 104 is bonded to the conductive material (the conductive film). The bonding causes oxygen vacancy in a region of the oxide semiconductor film 104 in the vicinity of an interface with the conductive film. Alternatively, damage (oxygen vacancy) to the top surface (or a side surface) of the oxide semiconductor film 104 is caused when the conductive film is formed on the top surface (or at the side surface) of the oxide semiconductor film 104. By the oxygen vacancy, the low-resistance region 120 b is formed. In this embodiment, the low-resistance region 120 b exists in a region at a depth of greater than 0 nm and less than or equal to 15 nm, preferably less than 10 nm, further preferably less than 3 nm from the interface between the oxide semiconductor film 104 and the conductive film in the depth direction of the oxide semiconductor film 104.

The formation of the low-resistance region 120 b can reduce contact resistance between the oxide semiconductor film 104 and the source electrode 110 a or the drain electrode 110 b, resulting in high-speed operation of the transistor 150.

Next, the gate insulating film 112 is formed (see FIG. 6B). Embodiment 1 can be referred to for a material and a manufacturing method of the gate insulating film 112.

Next, the oxygen 130 is added to the region A which is to be the channel formation region of the oxide semiconductor film 104, so that the low-resistance regions 121 a and 121 b are formed.

Embodiment 1 can be referred to for a method and conditions for adding oxygen to the region A of the oxide semiconductor film 104.

Next, second heat treatment is preferably performed. The second heat treatment can be performed in a similar condition to the first heat treatment. By the second heat treatment, impurities such as hydrogen and water can be further removed from the oxide semiconductor film 104.

Next, a conductive film to be the gate electrode 114 is formed over the gate insulating film 112 and then part of the conductive film is processed to form the gate electrode 114 (see FIG. 6C). Embodiment 1 can be referred to for a material and a manufacturing method of the insulating film.

Next, the insulating film 116 is formed over the gate insulating film 112 and the gate electrode 114. The insulating film 116 can be formed by a plasma CVD method, a sputtering method, or the like.

Next, third heat treatment is preferably performed. The third heat treatment can be performed in a similar condition to the first heat treatment. In the case where the base insulating film 102 and the insulating film 116 contain excess oxygen, the excess oxygen is easily released from the base insulating film 102 and the insulating film 116 by the third heat treatment, so that oxygen vacancy in the oxide semiconductor film 104 can be reduced. Accordingly, the amount of oxygen vacancy in the channel formation region of the oxide semiconductor film 104 can be further reduced, so that the channel formation region becomes a highly purified intrinsic region.

In this manner, the transistor 150 can be manufactured.

By such a manufacturing method, when the oxide semiconductor film is microfabricated to have an island shape, unevenness of a side surface of the oxide semiconductor film can be suppressed. Accordingly, a miniaturized transistor having high electrical characteristics can be provided in a high yield. Further, also in a semiconductor device including the transistor, high performance, high reliability, and high productivity can be achieved.

This embodiment can be combined with any of the other embodiments in this specification as appropriate.

Embodiment 3

In this embodiment, a transistor having a structure different from that of the transistor described in Embodiment 1 is described.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are a top view and a cross-sectional view of a transistor 250 of one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7A is the top view, and a cross section taken along a dashed-dotted line A1-A2 in FIG. 7A is illustrated in FIG. 7B. FIG. 7C is an enlarged view of a region surrounded by a dashed-line circle in FIG. 7B. Note that for simplification of the drawing, some components in the top view in FIG. 7A are not illustrated.

The transistor 250 in FIGS. 7A to 7C includes the base insulating film 102 over the substrate 100; an oxide film 204 a over the base insulating film 102; an oxide semiconductor film 204 b over the oxide film 204 a; an oxide film 204 c over the oxide semiconductor film 204 b; the hard masks 106 a and 106 b over the oxide film 204 c; the hard mask 108 a over the hard mask 106 a; the hard mask 108 b over the hard mask 106 b; the source electrode 110 a over the base insulating film 102, the oxide film 204 a, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, the oxide film 204 c, and the hard masks 106 a and 108 a; the drain electrode 110 b over the base insulating film 102, the oxide film 204 a, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, the oxide film 204 c, and the hard masks 106 b and 108 b; the gate insulating film 112 over the oxide film 204 a, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, the oxide film 204 c, the hard masks 106 a, 106 b, 108 a, and 108 b, the source electrode 110 a, and the drain electrode 110 b; and the gate electrode 114 over the gate insulating film 112. The hard masks 106 a and 106 b have conductivity. The oxide film 204 a, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, and the oxide film 204 c are collectively referred to as a multi-layer film 204 in some cases. The low-resistance region 121 a is formed in a region of the multi-layer film 204 that is in contact with the hard mask 106 a and the source electrode 110 a. The low-resistance region 121 b is formed in a region of the multi-layer film 204 that is in contact with the hard mask 106 b and the drain electrode 110 b. In addition, the insulating film 116 may be provided over the gate insulating film 112 and the gate electrode 114. Note that the insulating film 116 is provided as needed and another insulating film may be further provided thereover.

Depending on materials used for the oxide film 204 a, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, and the oxide film 204 c, boundaries between the oxide semiconductor film 204 b and each of the oxide films 204 a and 204 c cannot be clearly recognized in some cases. Thus, the boundaries of the oxide film 204 a, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, and the oxide film 204 c are denoted by dotted lines in the drawings.

The transistor 250 illustrated in FIGS. 7A to 7C is different from the transistor 150 described in Embodiment 1 in that the oxide films are provided over and under the oxide semiconductor film. Embodiment 1 can be referred to for the other structures.

The oxide film 204 a, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, and the oxide film 204 c each contain one or both of In and Ga. Typical examples are an In—Ga oxide (an oxide containing In and Ga), an In—Zn oxide (an oxide containing In and Zn), and an In-M-Zn oxide (an oxide containing In, an element M, and Zn: the element M is one or more kinds of elements selected from Al, Ti, Ga, Y, Zr, Sn, La, Ce, Nd, and Hf).

The oxide films 204 a and 204 c are preferably formed using a material including one or more kinds of metal elements included in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b. With the use of such a material, an interface state at interfaces between the oxide semiconductor film 204 b and each of the oxide films 204 a and 204 c is less likely to be generated. Thus, scattering of carriers or capture of carriers at the interface does not easily occur, so that the field-effect mobility of the transistor can be improved. Further, threshold-voltage variation of the transistor can be reduced.

Further, it is preferable that each of the oxide films 204 a and 204 c be formed using an oxide semiconductor whose energy of the bottom of the conduction band is closer to the vacuum level than that of the oxide semiconductor film 204 b by 0.05 eV or more, 0.07 eV or more, 0.1 eV or more, or 0.15 eV or more and 2 eV or less, 1 eV or less, 0.5 eV or less, or 0.4 eV or less.

When an electric field is applied to the gate electrode 114 in such a structure, in the multi-layer film 204, a channel is formed in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b which has the lowest energy of the bottom of the conduction band. In other words, the oxide film 204 c is formed between the oxide semiconductor film 204 b and the gate insulating film 112, whereby a structure in which the channel of the transistor is not in contact with the gate insulating film can be obtained.

Depending on materials used for the oxide film 204 a, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, and the oxide film 204 c, boundaries between the oxide semiconductor film 204 b and each of the oxide films 204 a and 204 c cannot be clearly recognized in some cases. Therefore, in the drawings, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b is indicated using a different hatching pattern from those of the oxide films 204 a and 204 c.

The thickness of the oxide film 204 a is greater than or equal to 3 nm and less than or equal to 50 nm, preferably greater than or equal to 3 nm and less than or equal to 20 nm. The thickness of the oxide semiconductor film 204 b is greater than or equal to 3 nm and less than or equal to 200 nm, preferably greater than or equal to 3 nm and less than or equal to 100 nm, further preferably greater than or equal to 3 nm and less than or equal to 50 nm. The thickness of the oxide film 204 c is greater than or equal to 3 nm and less than or equal to 100 nm, preferably greater than or equal to 3 nm and less than or equal to 50 nm.

When each of the oxide semiconductor film 204 b and the oxide film 204 a is an In-M-Zn oxide and the oxide film 204 a and the oxide semiconductor film 204 b contain In, A and Zn at an atomic ratio of x₁:y₁:z₁ and an atomic ratio of x₂:y₂:z₂ respectively, y₁/x₁ needs to be larger than y₂/x₂. Note that the element M is a metal element which has a higher ability than In to bind to oxygen, examples of which include Al, Ti, Ga, Y, Zr, Sn, La, Ce, Nd, Hf, and the like. Preferably, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b and the oxide film 204 a in which y₁/x₁ is 1.5 times or more as large as y₂/x₂ are selected. More preferably, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b and the oxide film 204 a in which y₁/x₁ is twice or more as large as y₂/x₂ are selected. Still further preferably, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b and the oxide film 204 a in which y₁/x₁ is three times or more as large as y₂/x₂ are selected. At this time, y₁ is preferably greater than or equal to x₁ in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, because stable electrical characteristics of a transistor can be achieved. However, when y₁ is three times or more as large as x₁, the field-effect mobility of the transistor is reduced; accordingly, y₁ is preferably smaller than three times x₁. When the oxide film 204 a has the above structure, the oxide film 204 a can be a film in which oxygen vacancy is less likely to occur than in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b.

When the oxide semiconductor film 204 b is an In-M-Zn oxide, it is preferable that without taking Zn and O into consideration, the proportion of In be greater than or equal to 25 atomic % and the proportion of M be less than 75 atomic %, and it is more preferable that the proportion of In be greater than or equal to 34 atomic % and the proportion of M be less than 66 atomic %. When the oxide film 204 a is an In-M-Zn oxide, it is preferable that without taking Zn and O into consideration, the proportion of In be less than 50 atomic % and the proportion of M be greater than or equal to 50 atomic %, and it is more preferable that the proportion of In be less than 25 atomic % and the proportion of M be greater than or equal to 75 atomic %.

For example, as the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, an In—Ga—Zn oxide in which an atomic ratio of In to Ga and Zn is 1:1:1 or 3:1:2 can be used. As the oxide film 204 a, an In—Ga—Zn oxide in which an atomic ratio of In to Ga and Zn is 1:3:2, 1:3:4, 1:6:2, 1:6:4, 1:6:10, 1:9:6, or 1:9:0 can be used. Note that the atomic ratio of each of the oxide semiconductor film 204 b and the oxide film 204 a may vary within a margin of ±20% of the corresponding atomic ratio.

When each of the oxide semiconductor film 204 b and the oxide film 204 c is an In-M-Zn oxide and the oxide film 204 c and the oxide semiconductor film 204 b contain In, M, and Zn at an atomic ratio of x₁:y₁:z₁ and an atomic ratio of x₂:y₂:z₂ respectively, y₁/x₁ needs to be larger than y₂/x₂. Note that the element M is a metal element which has a higher ability than In to bind to oxygen, examples of which include Al, Ti, Ga, Y, Zr, Sn, La, Ce, Nd, Hf, and the like. Preferably, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b and the oxide film 204 c in which y₁/x₁ is 1.5 times or more as large as y₂/x₂ are selected. More preferably, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b and the oxide film 204 c in which y₁/x₁ is twice or more as large as y₂/x₂ are selected. Still further preferably, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b and the oxide film 204 c in which y₁/x₁ is three times or more as large as y₂/x₂ are selected. At this time, y₁ is preferably greater than or equal to x₁ in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, in which case stable electrical characteristics of a transistor can be achieved. However, when y₁ is three times or more as large as x₁, the field-effect mobility of the transistor is reduced; accordingly, y₁ is preferably smaller than three times x₁. When the oxide film 204 c has the above structure, the oxide film 204 c can be a film in which oxygen vacancy is less likely to occur than in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b.

When the oxide semiconductor film 204 b is an In-M-Zn oxide, it is preferable that without taking Zn and O into consideration, the proportion of In be greater than or equal to 25 atomic % and the proportion of M be less than 75 atomic %, and it is more preferable that the proportion of In be greater than or equal to 34 atomic % and the proportion of M be less than 66 atomic %. When the oxide film 204 c is an In-M-Zn oxide, it is preferable that without taking Zn and O into consideration, the proportion of In be less than 50 atomic % and the proportion of M be greater than or equal to 50 atomic %, and it is more preferable that the proportion of In be less than 25 atomic % and the proportion of M be greater than or equal to 75 atomic %.

For example, as the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, an In—Ga—Zn oxide in which an atomic ratio of In to Ga and Zn is 1:1:1 or 3:1:2 can be used. As the oxide film 204 c, an In—Ga—Zn oxide in which an atomic ratio of In to Ga and Zn is 1:3:2, 1:3:4, 1:6:2, 1:6:4, 1:6:10, 1:9:6, or 1:9:0 can be used. Note that the atomic ratio of each of the oxide semiconductor film 204 b and the oxide film 204 c may vary within a margin of ±20% of the corresponding atomic ratio.

In order to give stable electrical characteristics to the transistor including the multi-layer film 204, it is preferable that the oxygen vacancy and the impurity concentration in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b be reduced and the oxide semiconductor film 204 b be an intrinsic or substantially intrinsic semiconductor film. In particular, the channel formation region in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b is preferably regarded as intrinsic or substantially intrinsic. Specifically, the carrier density of the oxide semiconductor film 204 b is smaller than 1×10¹⁷/cm³, smaller than 1×10¹⁵/cm³, or smaller than 1×10¹³/cm³.

Further, in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, silicon, and a metal element other than main components are impurities. In order to reduce the concentration of impurities in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, it is also preferable to reduce the concentration of impurities in the oxide films 204 a and 204 c, which are close to the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, to a value almost equal to that in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b.

In particular, when silicon is contained in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b at a high concentration, an impurity level caused by silicon is formed in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b. The impurity level serves as a trap level, and may degrade electrical characteristics of a transistor. In order to reduce degradation of electrical characteristics of the transistor, the silicon concentration of the oxide semiconductor film 204 b is smaller than 1×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, preferably smaller than 5×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, more preferably smaller than 1×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³. Further, the concentration of silicon at an interface between the oxide semiconductor film 204 b and each of the oxide films 204 a and 204 c is also in the above range.

Note that as the gate insulating film of the transistor, an insulating film containing silicon is used in many cases; therefore, it is preferable that a region of the oxide semiconductor film, which serves as a channel, be not in contact with the insulating film for the above-described reason. In the case where a channel is formed at the interface between a gate insulating film and an oxide semiconductor film, scattering of carriers occurs at the interface, whereby the field-effect mobility of a transistor is reduced in some cases. Also from the view of the above, it is preferable that a region of the oxide semiconductor film, which serves as a channel, be separated from the gate insulating film.

Therefore, when the multi-layer film 204 has the stacked-layer structure of the oxide film 204 a, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, and the oxide film 204 c, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b in which a channel of the transistor is formed can be separated from the gate insulating film 112, so that the transistor can have high field effect mobility and stable electrical characteristics.

Further, in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, hydrogen and nitrogen generate a donor level, and increase the carrier density. In order to make the oxide semiconductor film 204 b intrinsic or substantially intrinsic, the concentration of hydrogen in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, which is measured by SIMS, is set to be lower than or equal to 2×10²⁰ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, more preferably lower than or equal to 1×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, still more preferably lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³. The concentration of nitrogen in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, which is measured by SIMS, is set to be lower than 5×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, more preferably lower than or equal to 1×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, still more preferably lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁷ atoms/cm³.

Note that when silicon and carbon are contained in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b at a high concentration, the crystallinity of the oxide semiconductor film 204 b is lowered in some cases. In order not to lower the crystallinity of the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, the concentration of silicon in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b is set to be lower than 1×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than 5×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, more preferably lower than 1×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³. Moreover, in order not to lower the crystallinity of the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, the concentration of carbon in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b is set to be lower than 1×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than 5×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, more preferably lower than 1×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³.

Further, since the band gap of an oxide semiconductor is 2 eV or higher, in a transistor including an oxide semiconductor, leakage current when the transistor is off (also referred to as off-state current) is extremely small.

Localized levels of the multi-layer film are described below. By reducing the density of the localized levels of the multi-layer film, the transistor including the multi-layer film can have stable electrical characteristics. The density of the localized levels of the multi-layer film can be measured by a constant photocurrent method (CPM).

In order that the transistor has stable electrical characteristics, the absorption coefficient due to the localized levels of the multi-layer film measured by CPM is preferably lower than 1×10⁻³ cm⁻¹, more preferably lower than 3×10⁻⁴ cm⁻¹. Further, when the absorption coefficient due to the localized levels of the multi-layer film measured by CPM is lower than 1×10⁻³ cm⁻¹, preferably lower than 3×10⁻⁴ cm⁻¹, the field-effect mobility of the transistor can be increased. In order that the absorption coefficient due to the localized level of the multi-layer film measured by CPM is lower than 1×10⁻³ cm⁻¹, preferably lower than 3×10⁻⁴ cm⁻¹, the concentration of silicon, germanium, carbon, and the like in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b which form the localized level is preferably lower than 2×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, further preferably lower than 2×10¹⁷ atoms/cm³.

In the CPM measurement, the amount of light with which a surface of the sample between terminals is irradiated is adjusted so that a photocurrent value is kept constant in the state where voltage is applied between electrodes provided in contact with the multi-layer film that is the sample, and then an absorption coefficient is derived from the amount of the irradiation light at each wavelength. In the CPM measurement, when the sample has a defect, the absorption coefficient of energy which corresponds to a level at which the defect exists (calculated from a wavelength) is increased. The increase in the absorption coefficient is multiplied by a constant, whereby the defect density of the sample can be obtained.

It is considered that the localized level obtained by CPM originates from an impurity or a defect. In other words, a transistor which includes the multi-layer film having a small absorption coefficient due to the localized levels measured by CPM can have stable electrical characteristics.

Next, a method for manufacturing the transistor 250 is described with reference to FIGS. 8A to 8C, FIGS. 9A to 9C, and FIGS. 10A to 10C.

First, the substrate 100 is prepared. Next, the base insulating film 102 is formed. Then, an oxide film 203 a, an oxide semiconductor film 203 b, and an oxide film 203 c are formed in this order over the base insulating film 102 (see FIG. 8A). Note that the oxide film 203 a, the oxide semiconductor film 203 b, and the oxide film 203 c are collectively referred to as a multi-layer film 203, in some cases.

Embodiment 1 can be referred to for materials and manufacturing methods of the substrate 100 and the base insulating film 102. The above-described materials for the oxide film 204 a, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, and the oxide film 204 c can be used for the oxide film 203 a, the oxide semiconductor film 203 b, and the oxide film 203 c, and the description of the oxide semiconductor film 103 in Embodiment 1 can be referred to for manufacturing methods of the oxide film 203 a, the oxide semiconductor film 203 b, and the oxide film 203 c.

Subsequently, first heat treatment is preferably performed. The first heat treatment can be performed at a temperature higher than or equal to 250° C. and lower than or equal to 650° C., preferably higher than or equal to 300° C. and lower than or equal to 500° C. The first heat treatment is performed in an inert gas atmosphere, an atmosphere containing an oxidizing gas at 10 ppm or more, preferably 1% or more, more preferably or 10% or more, or under reduced pressure. Alternatively, the first heat treatment may be performed in such a manner that heat treatment is performed in an inert gas atmosphere, and then another heat treatment is performed in an atmosphere containing an oxidizing gas at 10 ppm or more, preferably 1% or more, or more preferably 10% or more in order to compensate desorbed oxygen. The first heat treatment enables the crystallinity of the oxide semiconductor film 203 b to be improved, and in addition, impurities such as water, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon to be removed from the gate insulating film to be formed later and the oxide semiconductor film.

Next, hard masks 105 and 107 are formed over the oxide film 203 c, and a resist is formed over the hard mask 107. Then, the resist is exposed to an electron beam, so that the resist mask 122 is formed (see FIG. 8B). The hard mask 105 is more likely to be bonded to oxygen than a metal element included in the oxide semiconductor film is, and has conductivity. Thus, in this case, since the material of the hard mask 105 is a conductive material which is likely to be bonded to oxygen, oxygen in the multi-layer film 203 is bonded to the conductive material (the hard mask 105). The bonding causes oxygen vacancy in a region of the multi-layer film 203 in the vicinity of an interface with the hard mask 105. Alternatively, damage (oxygen vacancy) to the top surface of the multi-layer film 203 is caused when the hard mask 105 to be formed over the multi-layer film 203 is formed. By the oxygen vacancy, the low-resistance region 120 is formed.

Instead of exposure using an electron beam, liquid immersion exposure in which ArF excimer laser light is used as a light source or EUV exposure may be used.

Embodiment 1 can be referred to for materials and manufacturing methods of the hard masks 105 and 107 and the resist mask 122.

Next, the hard masks 105 and 107 are selectively etched using the resist mask 122 as a mask to form the hard masks 106 and 108 (see FIG. 8C). Then, the resist mask 122 is removed. Embodiment 1 can be referred to for the etching conditions, removing treatment of the resist mask 122, and the like.

Then, the multi-layer film 203 is selectively etched using the hard masks 106 and 108 as masks, so that the multi-layer film 204 (the oxide film 204 a, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, and the oxide film 204 c) and the low-resistance region 120 a are formed (see FIG. 9A).

Next, a conductive film to be the source electrode 110 a and the drain electrode 110 b is formed over the base insulating film 102, the multi-layer film 204, the hard mask 106, and the hard mask 108, and then part of the conductive film is processed to form the source electrode 110 a and the drain electrode 110 b (see FIG. 9B). Embodiment 1 can be referred to for a material and a manufacturing method of the conductive film.

The source electrode 110 a and the drain electrode 110 b are each formed using a conductive material which is more likely to be bonded to oxygen than a metal element included in the oxide semiconductor film is. In this case, since the material of the conductive film is a conductive material which is likely to be bonded to oxygen, oxygen in the multi-layer film 204 is bonded to the conductive material (the conductive film). The bonding causes oxygen vacancy in a region of the multi-layer film 204 in the vicinity of an interface with the conductive film. Alternatively, damage (oxygen vacancy) to the top surface (or a side surface) of the multi-layer film 204 is caused when the conductive film is formed on the top surface (or at the side surface) of the multi-layer film 204. By the oxygen vacancy, the low-resistance region 120 b is formed. Although the boundary between the low-resistance region 120 b and the multi-layer film 204 is in the oxide film 204 c in this embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and the boundary may be in the oxide film 204 a, in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, at the interface between the oxide film 204 a and the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, or at the interface between oxide semiconductor film 204 b and the oxide film 204 c. Further, the low-resistance region 120 b exists in a region at a depth of greater than 0 nm and less than or equal to 15 nm, preferably less than 10 nm, further preferably less than 3 nm from the interface between the multi-layer film 204 and the conductive film in the depth direction of the multi-layer film 204.

The formation of the low-resistance region 120 b can reduce contact resistance between the multi-layer film 204 and the source electrode 110 a or the drain electrode 110 b, resulting in high-speed operation of the transistor 250.

Next, similarly to the resist mask 122, the resist mask 124 is formed in such a manner that a resist is formed over the hard mask 108, the source electrode 110 a, and the drain electrode 110 b, and the resist is exposed to an electron beam (see FIG. 9C).

Instead of exposure using an electron beam, liquid immersion exposure in which ArF excimer laser light is used as a light source or EUV exposure may be used.

Next, the hard masks 106 and 108 are selectively etched using the resist mask 124 as a mask to form the hard masks 106 a, 106 b, 108 a, and 108 b (see FIG. 10A). Then, the resist mask 124 is removed. Embodiment 1 can be referred to for the etching conditions, removing treatment, and the like of the resist mask 124.

Next, the gate insulating film 112 is formed (see FIG. 10B). Embodiment 1 can be referred to for a material and a manufacturing method of the gate insulating film 112.

Next, the oxygen 130 is added to the region A which is to be the channel formation region of the multi-layer film 204, so that the low-resistance regions 121 a and 121 b are formed. Embodiment 1 can be referred to for a method and conditions for adding the oxygen 130.

Next, second heat treatment is preferably performed. The second heat treatment can be performed in a similar condition to the first heat treatment. By the second heat treatment, impurities such as hydrogen and water can be further removed from the multi-layer film 204.

Next, a conductive film to be the gate electrode 114 is formed over the gate insulating film 112 and then part of the conductive film is processed to form the gate electrode 114. Embodiment 1 can be referred to for a material and a manufacturing method of the gate electrode 114.

Next, third heat treatment is preferably performed. The third heat treatment can be performed in a similar condition to the first heat treatment. In the case where the base insulating film 102 and the insulating film 116 contain excess oxygen, the excess oxygen is easily released from the base insulating film 102 and the insulating film 116 by the third heat treatment, so that oxygen vacancy in multi-layer film 204, in particular, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b can be reduced. Accordingly, the amount of oxygen vacancy in the channel formation region of the multi-layer film 204 can be further reduced, so that the channel formation region becomes a highly purified intrinsic region.

In this manner, the transistor 250 can be manufactured.

FIG. 11 illustrates another transistor structure. A transistor 260 in FIG. 11 includes the base insulating film 102 over the substrate 100; the oxide film 204 a over the base insulating film 102; the oxide semiconductor film 204 b over the oxide film 204 a; the hard masks 106 a and 106 b over the oxide semiconductor film 204 b; the hard mask 108 a over the hard mask 106 a; the hard mask 108 b over the hard mask 106 b; the source electrode 110 a over the base insulating film 102, the oxide film 204 a, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, and the hard masks 106 a and 108 a; the drain electrode 110 b over the base insulating film 102, the oxide film 204 a, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, and the hard masks 106 b and 108 b; the oxide film 204 c over the oxide film 204 a, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, the hard masks 106 a, 106 b, 108 a, and 108 b, the source electrode 110 a, and the drain electrode 110 b; the gate insulating film 112 over the oxide film 204 c; and the gate electrode 114 over the gate insulating film 112. In addition, the insulating film 116 may be provided over the gate insulating film 112 and the gate electrode 114. Note that the insulating film 116 is provided as needed and another insulating film may be further provided thereover.

The transistor 250 illustrated in FIGS. 7A to 7C is the same as the transistor 260 illustrated in FIG. 11 except that the oxide film 204 c is formed over the source electrode 110 a and the drain electrode 110 b.

In the transistor 260, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b in which the channel is formed is in contact with the hard masks 106 a and 106 b serving as parts of the source electrode and the drain electrode, so that oxygen vacancy is generated at a high density in the oxide semiconductor film 204 b and n-type regions (the low-resistance regions 121 a and 121 b) are formed. Therefore, there is a few resistance component in a carrier path and carriers can be transported efficiently.

Note that in this embodiment, a channel corresponds to a region of the oxide semiconductor film which is between the source electrode and the drain electrode. Further, a channel formation region corresponds to a region of the multi-layer film which is between the source electrode and the drain electrode.

Further, the oxide film 204 c is formed after the source electrode 110 a and the drain electrode 110 b are formed; therefore, overetching of the oxide film 204 c does not occur at the time of forming the source electrode 110 a and the drain electrode 110 b. Therefore, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b where the channel is formed can be sufficiently separated from the gate insulating film 112, and the effect of suppressing influence of diffusion of impurities from the interface can be enhanced.

Further, the oxide film 204 c functions as a barrier film which suppresses entry of hydrogen or a compound containing hydrogen (e.g., water) from the outside to the oxide semiconductor film 204 b; thus, the reliability of the transistor can be improved.

By such a manufacturing method, when the oxide semiconductor film is microfabricated to have an island shape, unevenness of a side surface of the oxide semiconductor film can be suppressed. Accordingly, a miniaturized transistor having high electrical characteristics can be provided in a high yield. Further, also in a semiconductor device including the transistor, high performance, high reliability, and high productivity can be achieved.

This embodiment can be combined with any of the other embodiments in this specification as appropriate.

Embodiment 4

In this embodiment, an example of a semiconductor device (memory device) which includes a transistor of one embodiment of the present invention, which can hold stored data even when not powered, and which has an unlimited number of write cycles is described with reference to drawings.

FIG. 12A is a cross-sectional view of the semiconductor device, and FIG. 12B is a circuit diagram of the semiconductor device.

The semiconductor device illustrated in FIGS. 12A and 12B includes a transistor 400 including a first semiconductor material in a lower portion, and a transistor 402 including a second semiconductor material and a capacitor 404 in an upper portion. As the transistor 402, any of the transistors described in the above embodiments can be used, and an example in which the transistor 150 described in Embodiment 1 with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B is applied to the transistor 402 is described in this embodiment. One electrode of the capacitor 404 is formed using the same material as a gate electrode of the transistor 402, the other electrode of the capacitor 404 is formed using the same material as a source electrode and a drain electrode of the transistor 402, and a dielectric of the capacitor 404 is formed using the same material as the gate insulating film of the transistor 402; thus, the capacitor 404 can be formed at the same time as the transistor 402.

Here, the first semiconductor material and the second semiconductor material are preferably materials having different band gaps. For example, the first semiconductor material may be a semiconductor material (such as silicon) other than an oxide semiconductor, and the second semiconductor material may be the oxide semiconductor described in Embodiment 1. A transistor including a material other than an oxide semiconductor can operate at high speed easily. On the other hand, a transistor including an oxide semiconductor enables charge to be held for a long time owing to its electrical characteristics, that is, the low off-state current.

Although all the above transistors are n-channel transistors here, it is needless to say that p-channel transistors can be used. The specific structure of the semiconductor device, such as the material used for the semiconductor device and the structure of the semiconductor device, is not necessarily limited to that described here except for the use of the transistor described in the above embodiment, which is formed using an oxide semiconductor for storing data.

The transistor 400 in FIG. 12A includes a channel formation region provided in a substrate 410 including a semiconductor material (such as crystalline silicon), impurity regions provided such that the channel formation region is sandwiched therebetween, intermetallic compound regions provided in contact with the impurity regions, a gate insulating film provided over the channel formation region, and a gate electrode provided over the gate insulating film. Note that a transistor whose source electrode and drain electrode are not illustrated in a drawing may also be referred to as a transistor for the sake of convenience. Further, in such a case, in description of a connection of a transistor, a source region and a source electrode may be collectively referred to as a source electrode, and a drain region and a drain electrode may be collectively referred to as a drain electrode. That is, for example, in this specification, the term “source electrode” might include a source region.

An element isolation insulating layer 406 is provided over the substrate 410 so as to surround the transistor 400. An insulating film 420 is provided so as to cover the transistor 400. Note that the element isolation insulating layer 406 can be formed by an element isolation technique such as local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) or shallow trench isolation (STI).

For example, the transistor 400 formed using a crystalline silicon substrate can operate at high speed. Thus, when the transistor is used as a reading transistor, data can be read at a high speed. As treatment prior to formation of the transistor 402 and the capacitor 404, CMP treatment is performed on the insulating film 420 covering the transistor 400, whereby the insulating film 420 is planarized and, at the same time, an upper surface of the gate electrode of the transistor 400 is exposed.

The transistor 402 is provided over the insulating film 420, and one of the source electrode and the drain electrode thereof is extended so as to function as the other electrode of the capacitor 404.

The transistor 402 in FIG. 12A is a top-gate transistor in which a channel is formed in an oxide semiconductor film. Since the off-state current of the transistor 402 is low, stored data can be held for a long period owing to such a transistor. In other words, power consumption can be sufficiently reduced because a semiconductor device in which refresh operation is unnecessary or the frequency of refresh operation is extremely low can be provided.

In the transistor 402, low-resistance regions are formed in regions in the vicinity of the interfaces of the oxide semiconductor film in contact with the source electrode and the drain electrode, and the channel formation region can be a highly purified intrinsic region by adding oxygen to the oxide semiconductor film using the source electrode and the drain electrode as masks. By the addition of oxygen, the highly purified intrinsic region and the low-resistance regions can be formed. The amount of oxygen vacancy in the channel formation region in the oxide semiconductor film in the transistor can be reduced and the electrical characteristics of the transistor are favorable; therefore, it is possible to provide a highly reliable semiconductor device.

The transistor 400 and the capacitor 404 can be formed so as to overlap with each other as illustrated in FIG. 12A, whereby the area occupied by them can be reduced. Accordingly, the degree of integration of the semiconductor device can be increased.

Next, an example of a circuit configuration corresponding to FIG. 12A is illustrated in FIG. 12B.

In FIG. 12B, a first wiring (1st Line) is electrically connected to one of a source electrode and a drain electrode of the transistor 400. A second wiring (2nd Line) is electrically connected to the other of the source electrode and the drain electrode of the transistor 400. A third wiring (3rd Line) and one of a source electrode and a drain electrode of the transistor 402 are electrically connected to each other, and a fourth wiring (4th Line) and a gate electrode of the transistor 402 are electrically connected to each other. The gate electrode of the transistor 400 and the other of the source electrode and the drain electrode of the transistor 402 are electrically connected to one electrode of the capacitor 404. A fifth wiring (5th Line) is electrically connected to the other electrode of the capacitor 404.

The semiconductor device in FIG. 12B utilizes a characteristic in which the potential of the gate electrode of the transistor 400 can be held, and thus can write, hold, and read data as described below.

Writing and holding of data is described. First, the potential of the fourth wiring is set to a potential at which the transistor 402 is on, so that the transistor 402 is turned on. Accordingly, the potential of the third wiring is supplied to the gate electrode of the transistor 400 and the capacitor 404. In other words, a predetermined charge is supplied to the gate electrode of the transistor 400 (i.e., writing of data). Here, charge for supplying either of two different potential levels (hereinafter referred to as a low-level charge and a high-level charge) is supplied. After that, the potential of the fourth wiring is set to a potential at which the transistor 402 is off, so that the transistor 402 is turned off. Thus, the charge supplied to the gate electrode of the transistor 400 is held (holding).

Since the off-state current of the transistor 402 is significantly small, the charge of the gate electrode of the transistor 400 is held for a long time.

Next, reading of data is described. By supplying an appropriate potential (reading potential) to the fifth wiring with a predetermined potential (constant potential) supplied to the first wiring, the potential of the second wiring varies depending on the amount of charge held in the gate electrode of the transistor 400. This is generally because, when the transistor 400 is an re-channel transistor, an apparent threshold voltage V_(th) _(_) _(H) in the case where the high-level charge is supplied to the gate electrode of the transistor 400 is lower than an apparent threshold voltage V_(th) _(_) _(L) in the case where the low-level charge is supplied to the gate electrode of the transistor 400. Here, the apparent threshold voltage refers to the potential of the fifth wiring, which is needed to turn on the transistor 400. Thus, the potential of the fifth wiring is set to a potential V₀ that is between V_(th) _(_) _(H) and V_(th) _(_) _(L), whereby charge supplied to the gate electrode of the transistor 400 can be determined. For example, in the case where the high-level charge is supplied in writing, when the potential of the fifth wiring is set to V₀ (>V_(th) _(_) _(H)), the transistor 400 is turned on. In the case where the low-level charge is supplied in writing, even when the potential of the fifth wiring is set to V₀ (<V_(th) _(_) _(L)), the transistor 400 remains in an off state. Therefore, the data held can be read by determining the potential of the second wiring.

Note that in the case where memory cells are arrayed to be used, only data of desired memory cells needs to be read. The fifth wiring in the case where data is not read may be supplied with a potential at which the transistor 400 is turned off regardless of the state of the gate electrode, that is, a potential lower than V_(th) _(_) _(H) Alternatively, the fifth wiring may be supplied with a potential at which the transistor 400 is turned on regardless of the state of the gate electrode, that is, a potential higher than V_(th) _(_) _(L).

When a transistor having a channel formation region formed using an oxide semiconductor and having extremely small off-state current is applied to the semiconductor device in this embodiment, the semiconductor device can store data for an extremely long period. In other words, power consumption can be sufficiently reduced because refresh operation becomes unnecessary or the frequency of refresh operation can be extremely low. Moreover, stored data can be held for a long period even when power is not supplied (note that a potential is preferably fixed).

Further, in the semiconductor device described in this embodiment, high voltage is not needed for writing data and there is no problem of deterioration of elements. For example, unlike a conventional nonvolatile memory, it is not necessary to inject and extract electrons into and from a floating gate, and thus a problem such as deterioration of a gate insulating film does not arise at all. That is, the semiconductor device according to the disclosed invention does not have a limitation on the number of times data can be rewritten, which is a problem of a conventional nonvolatile memory, and the reliability thereof is drastically improved. Furthermore, data is written depending on the on state and the off state of the transistor, whereby high-speed operation can be easily achieved.

As described above, a miniaturized and highly integrated semiconductor device having favorable electrical characteristics and a method for manufacturing the semiconductor device can be provided.

This embodiment can be combined with any of the other embodiments in this specification as appropriate.

Embodiment 5

In this embodiment, a semiconductor device including a transistor of one embodiment of the present invention, which can hold stored data even when not powered, which does not have a limitation on the number of write cycles, and which has a structure different from that described in Embodiment 4, is described.

FIG. 13A illustrates an example of a circuit configuration of a semiconductor device, and FIG. 13B is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a semiconductor device. As a transistor 562 included in the semiconductor device, any of the transistors described in the above embodiments can be used. A capacitor 554 can be formed through the same process and at the same time as the transistor 562 in a manner similar to that of the capacitor 404 described in Embodiment 4.

In the semiconductor device illustrated in FIG. 13A, a bit line BL is electrically connected to a source electrode of the transistor 562, a word line WL is electrically connected to a gate electrode of the transistor 562, and a drain electrode of the transistor 562 is electrically connected to one terminal of the capacitor 554.

Next, writing and holding of data in the semiconductor device (a memory cell 550) illustrated in FIG. 13A is described.

First, the potential of the word line WL is set to a potential at which the transistor 562 is turned on, so that the transistor 562 is turned on. Accordingly, the potential of the bit line BL is supplied to the one terminal of the capacitor 554 (writing). After that, the potential of the word line WL is set to a potential at which the transistor 562 is turned off, so that the transistor 562 is turned off Thus, the potential at the one terminal of the capacitor 554 is held (holding).

The transistor 562 including an oxide semiconductor has a characteristic of a significantly small off-state current. For that reason, a potential of the first terminal of the capacitor 554 (or a charge accumulated in the capacitor 554) can be held for an extremely long period by turning off the transistor 562.

Next, reading of data is described. When the field-effect transistor 562 is turned on, the bit line BL which is in a floating state and the capacitor 554 are electrically connected to each other, and the charge is redistributed between the bit line BL and the capacitor 554. As a result, the potential of the bit line BL is changed. The amount of change in potential of the bit line BL varies depending on the potential of the first terminal of the capacitor 554 (or the charge accumulated in the capacitor 554).

For example, the potential of the bit line BL after charge redistribution is (C_(B)×V_(B0)+C×V)/(C_(B)+C), where V is the potential of the first terminal of the capacitor 554, C is the capacitance of the capacitor 554, C_(B) is the capacitance of the bit line BL (hereinafter also referred to as bit line capacitance), and V_(B0) is the potential of the bit line BL before the charge redistribution. Therefore, it can be found that assuming that the memory cell 550 is in either of two states in which the potentials of the first terminal of the capacitor 554 are V₁ and V₀ (V₁>V₀), the potential of the bit line BL in the case of holding the potential V₁ (=(C_(B)×V_(B0)+C×V₁)/(C_(B)+C)) is higher than the potential of the bit line BL in the case of holding the potential V₀ (=(C_(B)×V_(B0)+C×V₀)/(C_(B)+C)).

Then, by comparing the potential of the bit line BL with a predetermined potential, data can be read.

As described above, the semiconductor device illustrated in FIG. 13A can hold charge that is accumulated in the capacitor 554 for a long time because the off-state current of the transistor 562 is extremely low. In other words, power consumption can be sufficiently reduced because refresh operation becomes unnecessary or the frequency of refresh operation can be extremely low. Moreover, stored data can be stored for a long time even when power is not supplied.

Next, the semiconductor device illustrated in FIG. 13B is described.

The semiconductor device illustrated in FIG. 13B includes a memory cell array 551 (memory cell arrays 551 a and 551 b) including the plurality of memory cells 550 illustrated in FIG. 13A as memory circuits in the upper portion, and a peripheral circuit 553 in the lower portion, which is necessary for operating the memory cell array 551. Note that the peripheral circuit 553 is electrically connected to the memory cell arrays 551.

It is preferable that a semiconductor material of the transistor provided in the peripheral circuit 553 be different from that of the transistor 562. For example, silicon, germanium, silicon germanium, silicon carbide, gallium arsenide, or the like can be used, and a single crystal semiconductor is preferably used. A transistor including such a semiconductor material can operate at sufficiently high speed. Thus, the transistor enables a variety of circuits (e.g., a logic circuit and a driver circuit) which need to operate at high speed to be favorably obtained.

Note that FIG. 13B illustrates, as an example, the semiconductor device in which the memory cell array 551 has a stack of the memory cell array 551 a and the memory cell array 551 b; however, the number of stacked memory cell arrays is not limited to two. For the memory cell array 551, a stack of three or more memory cell arrays may be used, or only one memory cell array may be used.

The transistor 562 is formed using an oxide semiconductor, and any of the transistors described in the above embodiments can be used as the transistor 562. Since the off-state current of the transistor including an oxide semiconductor is small, stored data can be held for a long time. In other words, the frequency of refresh operation can be extremely lowered, which leads to a sufficient reduction in power consumption.

A semiconductor device having a novel feature can be obtained by being provided with both a peripheral circuit including the transistor including a material other than an oxide semiconductor (in other words, a transistor capable of operating at sufficiently high speed) and a memory circuit including the transistor including an oxide semiconductor (in a broader sense; a transistor whose off-state current is sufficiently small). In addition, with a structure where the peripheral circuit and the memory circuit are stacked, the degree of integration of the semiconductor device can be increased.

As described above, a miniaturized and highly integrated semiconductor device having favorable electrical characteristics can be provided.

This embodiment can be combined with any of the other embodiments in this specification as appropriate.

Embodiment 6

In this embodiment, examples of electronic devices which can use any of the transistors described in the above embodiments are described.

The transistors described in the above embodiments can be applied to a variety of electronic devices (including game machines) and electric appliances. Examples of the electronic devices and electric appliances include display devices of televisions, monitors, and the like, lighting devices, desktop personal computers and laptop personal computers, word processors, image reproduction devices which reproduce still images or moving images stored in recording media such as digital versatile discs (DVDs), portable compact disc (CD) players, radio receivers, tape recorders, headphone stereos, stereos, cordless phone handsets, transceivers, mobile phones, car phones, portable game machines, calculators, portable information terminals, electronic notebooks, electronic dictionary, electronic translators, audio input devices, video cameras, digital still cameras, electric shavers, IC chips, high-frequency heating appliances such as microwave ovens, electric rice cookers, electric washing machines, electric vacuum cleaners, air-conditioning systems such as air conditioners, dishwashers, dish dryers, clothes dryers, futon dryers, electric refrigerators, electric freezers, electric refrigerator-freezers, freezers for preserving DNA, radiation counters, and medical equipment such as dialyzers. In addition, the examples include alarm devices such as smoke detectors, gas alarm devices, and security alarm devices. Further, the examples also include industrial equipment such as guide lights, traffic lights, belt conveyors, elevators, escalators, industrial robots, and power storage systems. In addition, moving objects and the like driven by oil engines and electric motors using power from non-aqueous secondary batteries, for example, electric vehicles (EV), hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) which include both an internal-combustion engine and a motor, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), tracked vehicles in which caterpillar tracks are substituted for wheels of these vehicles, motorized bicycles including motor-assisted bicycles, motorcycles, electric wheelchairs, golf carts, boats or ships, submarines, helicopters, aircrafts, rockets, artificial satellites, space probes, planetary probes, spacecrafts, and the like can be given. Specific examples of these electronic devices are illustrated in FIG. 14, FIG. 15, FIGS. 16A to 16C, and FIGS. 17A and 17B.

First, as an example of the alarm device, a structure of a fire alarm is described. A fire alarm in this specification refers to any device which raises an alarm over fire occurrence instantly, and for example, a residential fire alarm, an automatic fire alarm system, and a fire detector used for the automatic fire alarm system are included in its category.

An alarm device illustrated in FIG. 14 includes at least a microcomputer 700. Here, the microcomputer 700 is provided in the alarm device. The microcomputer 700 includes a power gate controller 703 electrically connected to a high potential power supply line VDD, a power gate 704 electrically connected to the high potential power supply line VDD and the power gate controller 703, a central processing unit (CPU) 705 electrically connected to the power gate 704, and a sensor portion 709 electrically connected to the power gate 704 and the CPU 705. Further, the CPU 705 includes a volatile memory portion 706 and a nonvolatile memory portion 707.

The CPU 705 is electrically connected to a bus line 702 via an interface 708. The interface 708 as well as the CPU 705 is electrically connected to the power gate 704. As a bus standard of the interface 708, an I²C bus can be used, for example. A light-emitting element 730 electrically connected to the power gate 704 through the interface 708 is provided in the alai device described in this embodiment.

The light-emitting element 730 is preferably an element which emits light with high directivity, and for example, an organic EL element, an inorganic EL element, or a light-emitting diode (LED) can be used.

The power gate controller 703 includes a timer and controls the power gate 704 with the use of the timer. The power gate 704 allows or stops supply of power from the high potential power supply line VDD to the CPU 705, the sensor portion 709, and the interface 708, in accordance with the control by the power gate controller 703. Here, as an example of the power gate 704, a switching element such as a transistor can be given.

With the use of the power gate controller 703 and the power gate 704, power is supplied to the sensor portion 709, the CPU 705, and the interface 708 in a period during which the amount of light is measured, and supply of power to the sensor portion 709, the CPU 705, and the interface 708 can be stopped during an interval between measurement periods. The alarm device operates in such a manner, whereby power consumption can be reduced compared with a case where power is continuously supplied to the above structures.

In the case where a transistor is used as the power gate 704, it is preferable to use a transistor which has an extremely low off-state current and is used for the nonvolatile memory portion 707, for example, a transistor including an oxide semiconductor. With the use of such a transistor, leakage current can be reduced when supply of power is stopped by the power gate 704, so that power consumption can be reduced.

A direct-current power source 701 may be provided in the alarm device described in this embodiment so that power is supplied from the direct-current power source 701 to the high potential power supply line VDD. An electrode of the direct-current power source 701 on a high potential side is electrically connected to the high potential power supply line VDD, and an electrode of the direct-current power source 701 on a low potential side is electrically connected to a low potential power supply line VSS. The low potential power supply line (VSS) is electrically connected to the microcomputer 700. Here, the high potential power supply line VDD is supplied with a high potential H. The low potential power supply line VSS is supplied with a low potential L, e.g., a ground potential (GND).

In the case where a battery is used as the direct-current power source 701, for example, a battery case including an electrode electrically connected to the high potential power supply line VDD, an electrode electrically connected to the low potential power supply line VSS, and a housing which can hold the battery, is provided in a housing. Note that the alarm device described in this embodiment does not necessarily include the direct-current power source 701 and may have, for example, a structure in which power is supplied from an alternate-current power source provided outside the alarm device through a wiring.

As the above battery, a secondary battery such as a lithium ion secondary battery (also called a lithium ion storage battery or a lithium ion battery) can be used. Further, a solar battery is preferably provided to charge the secondary battery.

The sensor portion 709 measures a physical quantity relating to an abnormal situation and transmits a measurement value to the CPU 705. The physical quantity relating to an abnormal situation depends on the usage of the alarm device, and in an alarm device functioning as a fire alarm, a physical quantity relating to a fire is measured. Accordingly, the sensor portion 709 measures the amount of light as the physical quantity relating to a fire and senses smoke.

The sensor portion 709 includes an optical sensor 711 electrically connected to the power gate 704, an amplifier 712 electrically connected to the power gate 704, and an AD converter 713 electrically connected to the power gate 704 and the CPU 705. The optical sensor 711, the amplifier 712, and the AD converter 713 which are provided in the sensor portion 709, and the light-emitting element 730 operate when the power gate 704 allows supply of power to the sensor portion 709.

FIG. 15 illustrates part of the cross section of the alarm system. In the alarm device, element isolation regions 803 are formed in a p-type semiconductor substrate 801, and an re-channel transistor 870 including a gate insulating film 807, a gate electrode 809, n-type impurity regions 811 a and 811 b, an insulating film 815, and an insulating film 817 is formed. Here, the re-channel transistor 870 is limited using a semiconductor other than an oxide semiconductor, such as single crystal silicon, so that the n-channel transistor 870 can operate at sufficiently high speed. Accordingly, a volatile memory portion of a CPU that can achieve high-speed access can be formed.

In addition, contact plugs 819 a and 819 b are formed in openings which are formed by partly etching the insulating films 815 and 817, and an insulating film 821 having groove portions is formed over the insulating film 817 and the contact plugs 819 a and 819 b.

Wirings 823 a and 823 b are formed in the groove portions of the insulating film 821, and an insulating film 820 formed by a sputtering method, a CVD method, or the like is provided over the insulating film 821 and the wirings 823 a and 823 b. An insulating film 822 having a groove portion is formed over the insulating film.

An insulating film 825 formed by a sputtering method, a CVD method, or the like is provided over the insulating film 822, and a second transistor 880 and a photoelectric conversion element 890 are provided over the insulating film 825.

The second transistor 880 includes an oxide film 806 a; an oxide semiconductor film 806 b; an oxide film 806 c; hard masks 831 and 832; a low-resistance region 805 a and a low-resistance region 805 b which are in contact with the oxide film 806 a, the oxide semiconductor film 806 b, the oxide film 806 c, and the hard masks 831 and 832; a source electrode 816 a and a drain electrode 816 b which are in contact with the low-resistance region 805 a and the low-resistance region 805 b; a gate insulating film 812; a gate electrode 804; and an oxide insulating film 818. Moreover, an insulating film 845 which covers the photoelectric conversion element 890 and the second transistor 880 is formed, and a wiring 849 in contact with the drain electrode 816 b is formed over the insulating film 845. The wiring 849 functions as the node which electrically connects a drain electrode of the second transistor 880 to the gate electrode 809 of the n-channel transistor 870. Note that a cross section C-D in the drawing shows a cross section in the depth direction of the transistor 870 in the cross section A-B.

Here, the transistor 250 described in the above embodiment can be used as the second transistor 880, and the oxide film 806 a, the oxide semiconductor film 806 b, and the oxide film 806 c correspond to the oxide film 204 a, the oxide semiconductor film 204 b, and the oxide film 204 c described in Embodiment 3, respectively. Moreover, the source electrode 816 a and the drain electrode 816 b correspond to the source electrode 110 a and the drain electrode 110 b described in Embodiment 1, respectively.

In the transistor 880, low-resistance regions are formed in regions in the vicinity of the interfaces of the multi-layer film in contact with the source electrode and the drain electrode, and the channel formation region can be a highly purified intrinsic region by adding oxygen to the multi-layer film using the source electrode and the drain electrode as masks. The amount of oxygen vacancy in the channel formation region in the multi-layer film in the transistor can be reduced and the electrical characteristics of the transistor are favorable; therefore, it is possible to provide a highly reliable semiconductor device.

The optical sensor 711 includes the photoelectric conversion element 890, a capacitor, a first transistor, the second transistor 880, a third transistor, and the n-channel transistor 870. As the photoelectric conversion element 890, a photodiode can be used here, for example.

One of terminals of the photoelectric conversion element 890 is electrically connected to the low potential power supply line VSS, and the other of the terminals thereof is electrically connected to one of the source electrode 816 a and the drain electrode 816 b of the second transistor 880.

The gate electrode 804 of the second transistor 880 is supplied with an electric charge accumulation control signal Tx, and the other of the source electrode 816 a and the drain electrode 816 b of the second transistor 880 is electrically connected to one of a pair of electrodes of the capacitor, one of a source electrode and a drain electrode of the first transistor, and the gate electrode of the n-channel transistor 870 (hereinafter the node is referred to as a node FD in some cases).

The other of the pair of electrodes of the capacitor is electrically connected to the low potential power supply line VSS. A gate electrode of the first transistor is supplied with a reset signal Res, and the other of the source electrode and the drain electrode thereof is electrically connected to the high potential power supply line VDD.

One of a source electrode and a drain electrode of the n-channel transistor 870 is electrically connected to one of a source electrode and a drain electrode of the third transistor and the amplifier 712. The other of the source electrode and the drain electrode of the n-channel transistor 870 is electrically connected to the high potential power supply line VDD. A gate electrode of the third transistor is supplied with a bias signal Bias, and the other of the source electrode and the drain electrode thereof is electrically connected to the low potential power supply line VSS.

Note that the capacitor is not necessarily provided. For example, in the case where parasitic capacitance of the n-channel transistor 870 or the like is sufficiently large, a structure without the capacitor may be employed.

Further, as each of the first transistor and the second transistor 880, the transistor having an extremely low off-state current is preferably used. As the transistor having an extremely low off-state current, a transistor including an oxide semiconductor is preferably used. With such a structure, the potential of the node FD can be held for a long time.

In the structure in FIG. 15, the photoelectric conversion element 890 is electrically connected to the second transistor 880 and is provided over the insulating film 825.

The photoelectric conversion element 890 includes a semiconductor film 860 provided over the insulating film 825, and the source electrode 816 a and an electrode 816 c which are in contact with a top surface of the semiconductor film 860. The source electrode 816 a is an electrode functioning as the source electrode or the drain electrode of the second transistor 880 and electrically connects the photoelectric conversion element 890 to the second transistor 880.

Over the semiconductor film 860, the source electrode 816 a, and the electrode 816 c, the gate insulating film 812, the oxide insulating film 818, and the insulating film 845 are provided. Further, a wiring 856 is formed over the insulating film 845 and is in contact with the electrode 816 c through an opening provided in the gate insulating film 812, the oxide insulating film 818, and the insulating film 845.

The electrode 816 c can be formed in steps similar to those of the source electrode 816 a and the drain electrode 816 b, and the wiring 856 can be formed in steps similar to those of the wiring 849.

As the semiconductor film 860, a semiconductor film which can perform photoelectric conversion is provided, and for example, silicon or germanium can be used. In the case of using silicon for the semiconductor film 860, an optical sensor which senses visible light can be obtained. Further, there is a difference, between silicon and germanium, in wavelengths of electromagnetic waves that can be absorbed. When the semiconductor film 860 includes germanium, a sensor which mainly senses an infrared ray can be obtained.

In the above manner, the sensor portion 709 including the optical sensor 711 can be incorporated into the microcomputer 700, so that the number of components can be reduced and the size of the housing of the alarm device can be reduced. Note that in the case where the place of the optical sensor or the photoelectric conversion element needs a high degree of freedom, the optical sensor or the photoelectric conversion element may be externally provided so as to be electrically connected to the microcomputer 700.

In the alarm device including the above-described IC chip, the CPU 705 in which a plurality of circuits including any of the transistors described in the above embodiments are combined and mounted on one IC chip is used.

FIGS. 16A to 16C are block diagrams illustrating a specific configuration of a CPU at least partly including any of the transistors described in the above embodiments.

The CPU illustrated in FIG. 16A includes an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) 921, an ALU controller 922, an instruction decoder 923, an interrupt controller 924, a timing controller 925, a register 926, a register controller 927, a bus interface (Bus I/F) 928, a rewritable ROM 929, and an ROM interface (ROM I/F) 919 over a substrate 920. A semiconductor substrate, an SOI substrate, a glass substrate, or the like is used as the substrate 920. The ROM 929 and the ROM interface 919 may be provided over a separate chip. It is needless to say that the CPU illustrated in FIG. 16A is only an example in which the configuration is simplified, and actual CPUs have various configurations depending on applications.

An instruction that is input to the CPU through the bus interface 928 is input to the instruction decoder 923 and decoded therein, and then, input to the ALU controller 922, the interrupt controller 924, the register controller 927, and the timing controller 925.

The ALU controller 922, the interrupt controller 924, the register controller 927, and the timing controller 925 conduct various controls in accordance with the decoded instruction. Specifically, the ALU controller 922 generates signals for controlling the operation of the ALU 921. While the CPU is executing a program, the interrupt controller 924 determines an interrupt request from an external input/output device or a peripheral circuit on the basis of its priority or a mask state, and processes the request. The register controller 927 generates an address of the register 926, and reads/writes data from/to the register 926 in accordance with the state of the CPU.

The timing controller 925 generates signals for controlling operation timings of the ALU 921, the ALU controller 922, the instruction decoder 923, the interrupt controller 924, and the register controller 927. For example, the timing controller 925 includes an internal clock generator for generating an internal clock signal CLK2 based on a reference clock signal CLK1, and supplies the internal clock signal CLK2 to the above circuits.

In the CPU illustrated in FIG. 16A, a memory cell is provided in the register 926. As the memory cell of the register 926, any of the transistors described in the above embodiments can be used.

In the CPU illustrated in FIG. 16A, the register controller 927 selects operation of storing data in the register 926 in accordance with an instruction from the ALU 921. That is, the register controller 927 selects whether data is stored by a flip-flop or by a capacitor in the memory cell included in the register 926. When data storing by the flip-flop is selected, a power supply voltage is supplied to the memory cell in the register 926. When data storing by the capacitor is selected, the data is rewritten in the capacitor, and supply of power supply voltage to the memory cell in the register 926 can be stopped.

The power supply can be stopped by a switching element provided between a memory cell group and a node to which a power supply potential VDD or a power supply potential VSS is supplied, as illustrated in FIG. 16B or FIG. 16C. Circuits illustrated in FIGS. 16B and 16C are be described below.

FIGS. 16B and 16C each illustrate an example of the configuration of a memory circuit in which any of the transistors described in the above embodiments is used as a switching element which controls supply of a power supply potential to a memory cell.

The memory device illustrated in FIG. 16B includes a switching element 901 and a memory cell group 903 including a plurality of memory cells 902. Specifically, as each of the memory cells 902, any of the transistors described in the above embodiments can be used. Each of the memory cells 902 included in the memory cell group 903 is supplied with the high-level power supply potential VDD via the switching element 901. Further, each of the memory cells 902 included in the memory cell group 903 is supplied with a potential of a signal IN and the low-level power supply potential VSS.

In FIG. 16B, any of the transistors described in the above embodiments is used as the switching element 901, and the switching of the transistor is controlled by a signal SigA supplied to a gate electrode thereof.

Note that FIG. 16B illustrates the structure in which the switching element 901 includes only one transistor; however, one embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto and the switching element 901 may include a plurality of transistors. In the case where the switching element 901 includes a plurality of transistors which function as switching elements, the plurality of transistors may be connected to each other in parallel, in series, or in combination of parallel connection and series connection.

Although the switching element 901 controls the supply of the high-level power supply potential VDD to each of the memory cells 902 included in the memory cell group 903 in FIG. 16B, the switching element 901 may control the supply of the low-level power supply potential VSS.

In FIG. 16C, an example of a memory device in which each of the memory cells 902 included in the memory cell group 903 is supplied with the low-level power supply potential VSS via the switching element 901 is illustrated. The supply of the low-level power supply potential VSS to each of the memory cells 902 included in the memory cell group 903 can be controlled by the switching element 901.

When a switching element is provided between a memory cell group and a node to which the power supply potential VDD or the power supply potential VSS is supplied, data can be held even in the case where an operation of a CPU is temporarily stopped and the supply of the power supply voltage is stopped; accordingly, power consumption can be reduced. Specifically, for example, while a user of a personal computer does not input data to an input device such as a keyboard, the operation of the CPU can be stopped, so that the power consumption can be reduced.

Although the CPU is given as an example, the transistor can also be applied to an LSI such as a digital signal processor (DSP), a custom LSI, or a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

In FIG. 17A, a display device 1000 is an example of an electric appliance including the CPU in which any of the transistors described in the above embodiments is used. The display device 1000 corresponds to a display device for TV broadcast reception and includes a housing 1001, a display portion 1002, speaker portions 1003, a CPU 1004, and the like. The CPU 1004 is provided in the housing 1001. The display device 1000 can receive electric power from a commercial power supply. Alternatively, the display device 1000 can use electric power stored in a power storage device. When any of the transistors described in the above embodiments is used as the CPU in the display device 1000, a reduction in power consumption of the display device 1000 can be achieved.

A semiconductor display device such as a liquid crystal display device, a light-emitting device in which a light-emitting element such as an organic EL element is provided in each pixel, an electrophoresis display device, a digital micromirror device (DMD), a plasma display panel (PDP), a field emission display (FED), and the like can be used in the display portion 1002.

Note that the display device includes, in its category, all of information display devices for personal computers, advertisement displays, and the like besides TV broadcast reception.

In FIG. 17A, an alarm device 1010 is a residential fire alarm, which includes a sensor portion and a microcomputer 1011. Note that the microcomputer 1011 is an example of an electric appliance including the CPU in which any of the transistors described in the above embodiments is used.

In FIG. 17A, an air conditioner which includes an indoor unit 1020 and an outdoor unit 1024 is an example of an electric appliance including the CPU in which any of the transistors described in the above embodiments is used. Specifically, the indoor unit 1020 includes a housing 1021, an air outlet 1022, a CPU 1023, and the like. Although the CPU 1023 is provided in the indoor unit 1020 in FIG. 17A, the CPU 1023 may be provided in the outdoor unit 1024. Alternatively, the CPU 1023 may be provided in both the indoor unit 1020 and the outdoor unit 1024. By using any of the transistors described in the above embodiments for the CPU in the air conditioner, a reduction in power consumption of the air conditioner can be achieved.

In FIG. 17A, an electric refrigerator-freezer 1030 is an example of an electric appliance including the CPU in which any of the transistors described in the above embodiments is used. Specifically, the electric refrigerator-freezer 1030 includes a housing 1031, a door for a refrigerator 1032, a door for a freezer 1033, a CPU 1034, and the like. In FIG. 17A, the CPU 1034 is provided in the housing 1031. When any of the transistors described in the above embodiments is used as the CPU 1034 of the electric refrigerator-freezer 1030, a reduction in power consumption of the electric refrigerator-freezer 1030 can be achieved.

FIG. 17B illustrates an example of an electric vehicle which is an example of an electric appliance. An electric vehicle 1040 is equipped with a secondary battery 1041. The output of the electric power of the secondary battery 1041 is adjusted by a control circuit 1042 and the electric power is supplied to a driving device 1043. The control circuit 1042 is controlled by a processing unit 1044 including a ROM, a RAM, a CPU, or the like which is not illustrated. When any of the transistors described in the above embodiments is used as the CPU in the electric vehicle 1040, a reduction in power consumption of the electric vehicle 1040 can be achieved.

The driving device 1043 includes a DC motor or an AC motor either alone or in combination with an internal-combustion engine. The processing unit 1044 outputs a control signal to the control circuit 1042 based on input data such as data of operation (e.g., acceleration, deceleration, or stop) by a driver or data during driving (e.g., data on an upgrade or a downgrade, or data on a load on a driving wheel) of the electric vehicle 1040. The control circuit 1042 adjusts the electric energy supplied from the secondary battery 1041 in accordance with the control signal of the processing unit 1044 to control the output of the driving device 1043. In the case where the AC motor is mounted, although not illustrated, an inverter which converts direct current into alternate current is also incorporated.

This embodiment can be combined with any of the other embodiments in this specification as appropriate.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application serial No. 2003-051622 filed with Japan Patent Office on Mar. 14, 2013, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 

1. (canceled)
 2. A semiconductor device comprising: an oxide semiconductor film; a first film having conductivity and a second film having conductivity over the oxide semiconductor film; a gate insulating film over the oxide semiconductor film, the first film having conductivity, and the second film having conductivity; and a gate electrode overlapping with the gate insulating film and the oxide semiconductor film, wherein an entire portion of each of the first film having conductivity and the second film having conductivity overlaps with the oxide semiconductor film.
 3. The semiconductor device according to claim 2, further comprising: a first oxide film under the oxide semiconductor film; and a second oxide film over the oxide semiconductor film, wherein energy at bottom of conduction band in each of the first oxide film and the second oxide film is larger than energy at bottom of conduction band in the oxide semiconductor film.
 4. The semiconductor device according to claim 2, further comprising: a first low-resistance region between a channel in the oxide semiconductor film and the first film having conductivity; and a second low-resistance region between the channel in the oxide semiconductor film and the second film having conductivity.
 5. The semiconductor device according to claim 2, wherein each of the first film having conductivity and the second film having conductivity comprises at least one of a material selected from titanium, molybdenum, tantalum, and tungsten, a nitride of the material and an alloy of the material.
 6. A semiconductor device comprising: an oxide semiconductor film over an insulating surface; a first film having conductivity and a second film having conductivity over the oxide semiconductor film; a source electrode over the first film having conductivity; a drain electrode over the second film having conductivity; a gate insulating film over the oxide semiconductor film, the source electrode, and the drain electrode; and a gate electrode overlapping with the gate insulating film and the oxide semiconductor film, wherein an entire portion of each of the first film having conductivity and the second film having conductivity overlaps with the oxide semiconductor film.
 7. The semiconductor device according to claim 6, further comprising: a first insulating film over the first film having conductivity; and a second insulating film over the second film having conductivity, wherein the source electrode is positioned over the first insulating film, and wherein the drain electrode is positioned over the second insulating film.
 8. The semiconductor device according to claim 7, wherein each of the first insulating film and the second insulating film comprises silicon and one of oxygen and nitrogen.
 9. The semiconductor device according to claim 6, further comprising: a first oxide film under the oxide semiconductor film; and a second oxide film over the oxide semiconductor film, wherein energy at bottom of conduction band in each of the first oxide film and the second oxide film is larger than energy at bottom of conduction band in the oxide semiconductor film.
 10. The semiconductor device according to claim 6, further comprising: a first low-resistance region between a channel in the oxide semiconductor film and the source electrode and between the channel in the oxide semiconductor film and the first film having conductivity; and a second low-resistance region between the channel in the oxide semiconductor film and the drain electrode and between the channel in the oxide semiconductor film and the second film having conductivity.
 11. The semiconductor device according to claim 6, wherein each of the first film having conductivity and the second film having conductivity comprises at least one of a material selected from titanium, molybdenum, tantalum, and tungsten, a nitride of the material and an alloy of the material.
 12. The semiconductor device according to claim 6, wherein a distance between a top edge of the first film having conductivity and a top edge of the second film having conductivity is shorter than a distance between a bottom edge of the source electrode and a bottom edge of the drain electrode. 